Autopsy results released this afternoon confirmed that a body recovered over the weekend in Linn County is that of an Everett man whose son and girlfriend allegedly went on an interstate killing spree that ended with their arrest in California last week.
The State Medical Examiners office announced on Monday afternoon that the body recovered at the Yellowbottom Campground on Friday is that of David (Red) Jones Pedersen who disappeared from his Everett home in late September around the time that his wife was found dead.
Pedersen was reportedly last seen driving with his son, David Joseph Pedersen, who is a suspect in his mother-in law’s death, as well as that of 19-year old Cody Myers who disappeared while en route to the Newport Jazz Festival. Myers was feared the victim of foul play after the younger Pedersen and his girlfriend Holly Grigsby were spotted driving in Myer’s Plymouth Breeze after his disappearance. Those fears were confirmed last week when Myers body was found near Philomath with gunshot wounds to the head and chest. California authorities have linked Pedersen and Grigsby to another body, that of a 53-year old man who was found dead Friday in his truck in Eureka. Pedersen told a California newspaper reporter that he took responsibility for all the crimes with which he has been linked, including the death of his father who Pedersen said molested his sister.
