Oregon woman ID’d as body found on abandoned Ridgefield property

The Clark County Medical Examiner’s Office identified and Oregon woman as the person found dead earlier this month at an abandoned property in Ridgefield, the Clark County Sheriff’s Office announced Tuesday.

The victim is 32-year-old Joanna Speaks, according to a sheriff’s office news release.

Speaks’ body was found near an abandoned barn at 8004 S. Fifth St. on the east side of Ridgefield. The agency said there is evidence her body was moved to that location.

Detectives are investigating her death as a homicide, according to the news release.

The Ridgefield Police Department and Clark-Cowlitz Fire Rescue responded about 6 p.m. April 8 to the area for a report of a dead person. Ridgefield police requested the sheriff’s office’s Major Crimes Unit, along with Vancouver police’s Major Crimes Unit, also respond, the sheriff’s office said.

The agency said it is not releasing any further details about the condition of Speaks’ body.

Anyone with information about people or vehicles near the Ridgefield property in the last few weeks is asked to contact the sheriff’s office. Detectives are also looking for information about who Speaks had been spending time with or where she had been staying prior to her death.

Contact the sheriff’s office’s Major Crimes Unit tip line at 564-397-2847.