Bonnie Lake body investigated as homicide

The Whitman County sheriff this morning said that the body of a man retrieved from the creek at the south end of Bonnie Lake on Sunday was the apparent victim of a homicide. Sheriff Brett Myers was at the scene on Sunday a quarter mile south of the lake near Belsby Road. Medics and the county coroner’s office helped in the recovery of the body. Bonnie Lakes crosses the Spokane and Whitman county line. A positive identification was pending an investigation, the sheriff said in a news release today. The sheriff said a fisherman spotted the body during the day on Sunday. Witnesses said they believe the victim is a Rosalia man who has been missing since a dinner party on Dec. 27. They said the man fled the rear door of a home in Malden when one man burst in and chased him out of the home of Nick Backman, according to Backman. Backman said he was interviewed by investigators on Sunday during the body recovery. Backman, who was at the scene when the body was removed, said the arms and legs were bound. Backman also said there had been house break-ins that might have led to the chase. Myers in an interview late this morning said, “We are certainly following up on every lead.” He declined to specify additional information, but said that his detectives have several persons to talk to and pieces of evidence that need to be gathered. The sheriff also said he would provide updates once the victim is identified.