Two Whitman County deaths believed murder-suicide

A Whitman County couple in the process of separating was found dead Wednesday in what detectives believe was a murder-suicide.

Wayne Arther Dale, 51, and Jennifer Dale, 42, were found dead from gunshot wounds in their home about two miles west of Thornton, Wash.

The woman’s boss called authorities Wednesday after she didn’t show up for work, said Whitman County Sheriff Brett Myers.

Deputies looked in through an open back door and saw the woman’s body on the dining room floor. Her husband’s body was in the kitchen with what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, according to a news release.

“Some people had expressed some concern to (the woman’s boss) that maybe there were some things going on because she was in the process of leaving,” Myers said.