KATHY M CHOU - 19 yo (2010) - Renton (SE of Seattle) WA

Renton WA ---- The Renton Police Department is seeking the public’s assistance in
locating Kathy M. Chou, 19, who was last seen at 7 p.m. Sunday, April
18, and last heard from at about 9:30 the same night.
The police department supplied the following description.


Chou is an Asian female, approximately 5-foot-7 and 180
pounds. She has black hair with blonde streaks and blue bangs and a
piercing in her bottom right lip. She usually wears a pair of pink
rimmed glasses, and was last seen wearing blue jeans and a horizontally
striped, multicolored shirt. She does not have any physical
disabilities.
A high school senior, she has no history of running away
or missing school.
It is extremely unlike Chou to be out of contact, and
family and friends have been unable to contact her since Sunday,
according to police. She was last known to be in the area of south
Renton and Southcenter.
Anyone who has seen Chou since 7 p.m. on Sunday night or
knows of her whereabouts is asked to call 9-1-1, contact the Renton
Police Department at 425-430-7500, or contact Detective Keith Hansen at
425-430-7526

http://www.q13fox.com/community/wamostwanted/fugitivefiles/kcpq-050610-wmw-kathychoumissing,0,4645182.story
MISSING TEEN: Can You Help Bring Kathy Chou Home?
May 6, 2010


RENTON -

Mystery swirls around her disappearance - and her love
for social cyberspace.

It's a parents worst nightmare: Your teen daughter - a social butterfly
who loves to use websites like Facebook and MySpace to keep in touch
with friends - now missing.

Those friends hope she simply ran away, but gut feelings have them
fearing the worst, and right now no one - friends, family, or police -
have much of anything to go on.

Deseree Moore is one of her friends. "The thing that I hope is going on
is that she just ran off to hangout with friends or something, but I
just have a bad feeling that stuff's not okay."

Another one of her friends, Whitney Rose, also spoke to Washington's
Most Wanted. "I hope she's just being stupid, and ran off with some guy,
because you know, every teenager wants to be in love, you know, and
they'll do just about anything to do it. I hope she's just being stupid
and ran off for awhile, and all of this will bring her back"

No one has heard from 19 year old Kathy Chou since April 18th, which her
friends say is not like her at all. She's normally in constant contact
with them and her parents, but they think she may have met a guy on the
internet - who turned out to be the wrong guy.

Police think there could be some foul play going on, but don't have any
evidence right now.

One thing that is known, is how hard this has been on those who love
Kathy. "I hope she realizes how much everybody loves her, and how many
friends she has, and no one is mad, we just want her to come home and we
miss her, and we love her a lot."

So, Kathy, If you're reading this right now - come home, or at least
call someone to let them know you're okay.

If you know anything about where she is, call:
Crime Stoppers: 1-800-222-TIPS

Still Missing.

Posted on July 10, 2011 at 1:59 PM

RENTON, Wash. – Police searching for a young woman
missing for more than a year found human remains buried 300 yards south
of the 18600 block of 124th Ave SE in Renton.
Police say the family of Kathy Chou has been notified of the
discovery and the body has been turned over to the King County Medical
Examiners for examination and identification.
Police say Chou, 19, was murdered by a man she met on the Internet. Ezekiel James Watkins, 22, is in custody.
Police were led to Watkins by his alleged accomplice's roommate. The
roommate, who police say suspected Watkins had something to do with
Chou's disappearance, finally came forward because he thought Watkins
had stolen something from him.

Police say Watkins led them to a field behind the school and told them where he buried Chou's body.
Watkins is being held on $1 million bail. The accomplice may also face murder charges.
http://www.king5.com/news/local/Body-found-buried-in-Renton-may-be-that-of-missing-teen-125299223.html

Thank goodness Watkins is a thief or he would never have been turned in. The roommate did the right thing BELATEDLY and for the wrong reason.

At least her family can stop wondering about what she might be enduring.

SEATTLE
(AP) — Human remains uncovered last weekend in Renton have been
identified by the King County medical examiner's office as Kathy Chou
(chow). The 19-year-old Renton woman had been missing since April 2010.The medical examiner's office says she was killed by sharp force injury to the neck and torso.The body was found after her former boyfriend was arrested and told investigators where to look for the body.On Monday, King County prosecutors charged a 22-year-old Ezekiel Watkins of Kent with first-degree murder.Court
documents say he told investigators that Chou was killed after "causing
trouble in his life by threatening his new girlfriend."http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Renton-body-identified-as-missing-girl-1464439.php

A grim end to missing girl case, remains found
Today, 10:29 AM

Ezekiel James Watkins was charged on Monday by the
King County Prosecutors Office with first degree murder in the death of
Renton resident Kathy Chou.
Remains were recovered in an area Watkins led investigators to
on Sunday and are believed to be those of Chou’s. An official
identification is still pending an investigation by the King County
Medical Examiner’s Office.
Watkins, who was a suspect in the murder of 19-year-old Chou
more than a year ago, took Renton detectives on July 6 to the isolated
area where he told them he stabbed her to death.
He was arrested on that day at Renton City Hall for investigation of first-degree homicide.
Search teams looked last week in the area of Boulevard Lane
Park near 124th Avenue Southeast and Southeast 186th Street in southeast
Renton.
The search was focused on private property, not far from Meeker Middle School.
Watkins pointed out two likely locations where he and a friend
buried Chou’s body late on April 18, 2010. However, in the intervening
months brush has grown up in the extensive open area, making pinpointing
an exact location difficult.
Watkins also was interviewed about a week after Chou’s
disappearance; he told investigators he had spent the night at a
friend’s house, which the friend substantiated. He told detectives he
received a text from her on April 18, saying she was at Southcenter.
Chou’s family and friends last heard from her the evening of
April 18. She had just returned from a Lindbergh High field trip to
Oregon. She was a Lindbergh senior at
the time of her death.
Renton Police detectives made extensive use of cell-phone records and
text messages in their initial investigation, which is spelled out in
documents prosecutors will use in charging Watkins.
Watkins is being held on $1 million bail at the King County Jail in
downtown Seattle, following an initial court appearance Thursday.
The Renton Police Department’s case against the Watkins is made in what is called a statement of probable cause.
Chou’s parents filed a missing person report with Renton Police on
April 19, 2010, after Kathy Chou didn’t return home the night before
after going for a walk at about 7 p.m.
Worried about her, Chou’s father called her cell phone at about 9
p.m. but had to leave a message. About a half hour later, he received a
text message, saying she was at Southcenter and would be home soon. He
found the text strange because Kathy knew her parents weren’t familiar
with texting. Several texts also were sent to one of Chou’s friends,
which indicated she was at Southcenter.
However, “reveal records,” which show approximately where a cell
phone is physically when a call is made, make it clear Chou’s cell phone
was never near Southcenter. Those same records show the cell was on for
about two hours near 127th Avenue Southeast and Southeast 192nd Street,
in the area where the current search took place.
On May 1, 2010, an extensive search was made in that same area, but nothing was found.
The records also show that during the day on April 18 Chou called her
ex-boyfriend, who is Watkins. They texted back and forth 43 times.
The case remained active in the intervening months, with no real breaks until June 23.
On that day Renton investigators interviewed the roommate of Watkins’
friend who had confirmed his alibi. The roommate said Watkins showed up
at his house at about 11 p.m. on April 18, covered in blood and with
dirt on his knees. Watkins told him he had crashed his bike.
The roommate suggested to investigators that they should talk to his roommate, the man who provided the alibi.
The roommate was talking now, more than a year after Chou’s disappearance, because he said Watkins had stolen money from him.
Watkins denied he stole any money, but, the roommate told
investigators Watkins didn’t deny his accusation that he had something
to do with Chou’s disappearance.
Later on June 23, a detective interviewed the
friend who had confirmed Watkins’ alibi. Watkins had called him
at about 9 p.m. April 18, saying he needed a shovel to bury one of his
ducks that had died. A couple blocks from Watkins’ home, he handed over
the shovel and Watkins rode off on his bike.
About two weeks later, on Wednesday of this week, detectives
interviewed Watkins. In that interview, he admitted he stabbed Kathy
Chou in the throat, killing her. It happened in a swampy area, near the
power lines, just south of his parents’ home.
He had called his friend, the one who confirmed his alibi,
asking for help. The two of them dug a hole, about thigh deep. The
suspect then buried Kathy Chou in the hole.
After the interview, he took detectives to two spots where it’s
likely he buried Chou. Then returning to City Hall he was arrested.
During two more interviews, he described in graphic detail how he had
killed Kathy Chou.
He told detectives he had been thinking about luring Chou to
this swampy area “and stabbing her because she had been causing trouble
in his life by threatening his new girlfriend and trying to have his new
girlfriend beaten up by Chou’s friends,” according to the
probable-cause documents.
He said the two men covered the shallow grave with plastic
garbage bags, then layers of dirt, plywood, garbage bags and wood. They
then spread water from the swampy area over the grave.
Later Wednesday, the second man confirmed Watkins’ details. He
also took detectives to the site. He was arrested then released. Charges
are still possible, according to a spokeswoman for the Renton Police
Department.http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/south_king/ren/news/125578003.html