Search continues for missing man

Police and volunteers planned to resume a search of Spokane County bridges today in hopes of finding the remains of missing Spokane resident James F. Ehrgott.

Detective Sgt. Joe Peterson confirmed Friday that triple-murder suspect John Wayne Thomson, 46, told investigators he killed the 73-year-old Ehrgott and left the recently retired Spokane Arena usher’s body under a bridge after an encounter at High Bridge Park.

“I don’t know anything to be absolutely true, but that is our belief: that they first met at High Bridge Park,” Peterson said.

Although Thomson allegedly stole Ehrgott’s car and credit cards, Peterson said the crime began as a kidnapping, not a robbery.

“I guess, in a technical sense, it turned into a robbery,” Peterson said. “It turned into a murder, is what it turned into.”

A Cowlitz County court document says that, in mid-July, Thomson showed friends of his in that county some credit cards belonging to someone named “Ehrgott.” One friend, Don Cobb, reportedly told investigators that Thomson said not to worry about who owned the cards because he had “put a cartridge in his head.”

At the time, court documents say, Thomson was driving a car that belonged to Kelso, Wash., resident Lori A. Hamm, 36, whom Thomson described as his girlfriend.

Thomson allegedly told one of his friends, Stan Payne, that Hamm was “whiny” and that he had “capped her in the back of the head.”

Hamm’s car was found abandoned in the Longview Home Depot parking lot on July 19. Her body was found in a wooded area near Castle Rock on Aug. 1 with a bullet in the head.

Ehrgott’s car was found July 12 at a private camp site in Lewis County, just north of Cowlitz County. People staying at the camp said Thomson had been driving the car but fled without it when a sheriff’s deputy came to investigate a local rash of thefts.

Spokane police discovered Ehrgott hadn’t been seen since July 6 when the Lewis County deputy called about Ehrgott’s car.

The search for Ehrgott’s body is being hampered by Thomson’s lack of familiarity with Spokane County, where he had been living only about six weeks before he allegedly killed Ehrgott. Thomson apparently didn’t know where he was when he dumped Ehrgott’s body, except under a bridge, Peterson said.

“He was truthful and answered everybody’s questions in every other instance that we know of,” Peterson said. “I believe he was as truthful as he could be to us about where Mr. Ehrgott was left.”

So, police are checking all 168 bridges in the county, with help from reserve officers, the department’s senior volunteers, its Co-ops program for students and its Explorer troop. They checked the south half of the county Friday without success and will turn to the north half today, Peterson said.

“They’re doing a really thorough job in a tough case,” Peterson said.

Authorities in Southern California have charged Thomson with murdering Lucerne Valley resident Charles Ray Hedlund, 55, at a remote location north of San Bernardino. Hedlund’s body and blood-soaked pickup were found last week a few miles from a car Thomson allegedly stole from another Kelso woman, who was not harmed.

“It’s going to take people’s breath away – the manner in which he did the killings,” San Bernardino County Prosecutor Vic Stull said at Thomson’s first court appearance Wednesday, the San Bernardino County Sun reported.

The newspaper also quoted a 45-year-old Riverside, Calif., woman as saying she chose not to attend the court hearing because it would have brought back memories of almost daily rapes and beatings by Thomson in the two years they dated in the 1980s.

A San Bernardino County court document says Thomson attempted to visit the woman on July 23, four days after Thomson allegedly stole the Honda Civic that was found in the vicinity of Hedlund’s pickup.

According to court documents, Thomson showed his friends in Kelso a handgun and said he needed more ammunition. Thomson reportedly told his friends he had only one bullet left, and he was saving that for himself because he didn’t intend to go back to prison.

Thomson last got out of prison in November 2002. His convictions include three rapes in Grays Harbor and Cowlitz counties.

Court documents say Thomson had been living with Spokane resident Patricia Clay when he allegedly stole her .38-caliber Smith & Wesson revolver on July 6 and left her home.

Spokane police say Clay had corresponded with Thomson while he was in prison and had tried to help him sell wooden flutes, “dream catchers” and other American Indian crafts he made. Thomson says he is part Native American, according to Peterson.

Peterson said Thomson came unannounced to Clay’s home for a visit. She is not suspected of any wrongdoing.

Peterson urged anyone who finds what may be Ehrgott’s remains to call 911 without disturbing the evidence. Less urgent information may be reported by calling (509) 242-TIPS.