A Camas man who had been missing for two months when his body was discovered in early April in the Washougal River died of a gunshot wound to the head, according to the Clark County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Michael Chad Holmes’ death was ruled a homicide, meaning it resulted from another person’s deliberate action. The ruling does not make any judgments about criminal culpability.
Holmes’ neighbor, Randy John Schmidt, 47, has been charged with second-degree murder in connection with his death.
The 52-year-old went missing Feb. 5 when he left his home on Northeast 94th Street and got into Schmidt’s tan GMC Yukon, according to an affidavit of probable cause. He was never heard from again.
His body was found April 6 by kayakers on the Washougal River. Investigators wrote in the affidavit that Holmes had “an apparent traumatic injury to his head. Metal fragments in his skull likely from bullet projectiles.”
In March, Clark County sheriff’s deputies found Schmidt’s SUV submerged in the Lewis River, not far from the location where he said he sold it to strangers a few weeks earlier, according to the affidavit. Investigators located blood stains on the front passenger’s seat that returned a DNA match to Holmes, court records say.
Data collected through a search warrant placed Schmidt near the river where the vehicle was recovered, according to the affidavit.
SWAT officers served warrants April 9 and arrested Schmidt. He’s pleaded not-guilty to the murder charge, and trial is set for June 17.
