Skamania County sheriff makes murder arrest

Skamania County sheriff’s deputies have made an arrest in connection with the killing of a 24-year-old Oregon man, whose body was discovered in January near the Gifford Pinchot National Forest boundary.

Dayton, Ore., resident Damian Bradley Belander, 22, was recently served with an arrest warrant for second-degree murder. The charge is tied to the death of Brian Bodle of Newberg, Ore., according to a news release from the Skamania County Sheriff’s Office.

Belander is being held in the Yamhill County Jail in Newberg on unrelated charges, the sheriff’s office said.

Deputies responded about 2:15 p.m. Jan. 24 to a call about “suspicious circumstances” on National Forest Road 83, near the junction with National Forest Road 90, about 7 miles east of Cougar. There, they found a body.

An autopsy conducted later in January positively identified Bodle and determined he had died of homicidal violence.

“Efforts are underway to ensure Belander will eventually be transferred to Skamania County to face the charges filed,” the sheriff’s office said.