Body found in river identified as Terrace Heights man

YAKIMA -- Yakima County authorities have identified a man whose body was recovered from the Yakima River on Sunday and are on the verge of doing the same for a woman fatally shot and found on the Fourth of July in a Sunnyside canal.

They plan to receive Wednesday a batch of dental records that will confirm her identity, said Maury Rice, Yakima County coroner. He would not release an age or hometown.

The man in the river is Alfe F. Turntoes-Kuhnhenn, 24, Rice said. He died by drowning, Rice said.

He was identified by his grandmother, who described his clothing and unusual tattoos to authorities.

"We know it's him," Rice said.

Turntoes-Kuhnhenn lived in the 3000 block of Polly Lane in Terrace Heights with family members, who last saw him on July 10 on his way to town, Rice said.

Boaters on Sunday found the body trapped under a log near the Yakima Greenway.

Meanwhile, Rice is "99 percent sure" authorities have identified a woman found on July 4 floating in the 5500 block of Emerald Road near Sunnyside.

Rice is waiting on one more batch of dental records from a Tacoma office to confirm the identity of the woman, who died of a shotgun blast to the torso.

Investigators have been working with a preliminary identification since last week, said Stew Graham, chief of detectives for the Yakima County Sheriff's Office.

They have no suspects so far, Graham said.

"We're continuing to work on it," Graham said.

Authorities had estimated she was between 18 and 25 years old.