Christopher Nuckols, 39, was found at a park on Queen Anne hill in Seattle, and is safely back home at his parent's home in Burien. Photo courtesy King County Sheriff's Office.

UPDATE 5/31/11: Sgt. John Urquhart of the King County Sheriff’s Office reported to us Tuesday, May 31st that Christopher Nuckols, the developmentally disabled Burien man missing since May 6th, has been found by his family and safely returned home.

“His parents found him at a park on Queen Anne…same place he ended up at least once before.,” Urqhart said. “This was on May 20th, but it took them awhile to let us know.”

Previously we reported about his original missing persons report, then did another post about a woman who thought she saw him in front of the Burien Taco Bell.

We love happy endings, so we thought this was worth sharing.

PREVIOUSLY:

UPDATE 5/9/11 6 p.m.: BTB Reader Karen Gambrel reported via a series of messages through Facebook (“Like” us here) that she may have spotted Christopher Nuckols, the developmentally disabled Burien man missing since Friday, May 6th:

“He was standing on the corner of 152nd and 1st Ave in front of Taco Bell about 12:15 we where just coming from church.

He kept pacing back and fourth waiting for the light to change.”

Karen alerts us that she has contacted the King County Sheriff’s Office.

We find this possible break very encouraging, and we urge our Readers to be on the watch for this man as he may still be around Burien.

PREVIOUSLY: The King County Sheriff’s Office reports that Christopher Nuckols, 39, a developmentally disabled Burien man, is still missing, and that they’re seeking the public’s help in finding him.

Nuckols apparently has the mental capacity of about a 10-year old, and is unable to speak more than a few words.

He was last seen Friday, May 6th about 1:30 p.m. at a house in the 800 block of SW 125 Street where he lives with his parents. He is African American, 6’ 2” tall, 220 lbs., with brown hair. He was wearing gray sweats when last seen, and as we previously reported, was not wearing any shoes.

Chris has wandered away in the past, and has been found in the Queen Anne area and north Seattle, among other places. He was once located at Rodgers Park, 2800 3rd Ave West on Queen Anne. He doesn’t drive and typically walks everywhere.

If anyone has seen Chris, they are asked to call the King County Sheriff’s Office at (206) 296-3311 (24 hours) or 9-1-1.

BTB Reader Deva Samuels sent us the following email Monday (May 9th) regarding two dogs rescued from the northbound lanes of SR-509 in the Glendale area:

My husband spotted a tan pit mix this morning running north on 12th Ave SW in White Center.

Then later (around noon) I was driving on 509 headed south and there were 2 dogs running down the freeway headed north. Turns out it’s the same pit mix, he’s now at my house.

He was running with a border collie mix, tan and white. So, 2 stray dogs found in Glendale.

Tan and White, younger female border collie mix, probably 45lbs, she is in heat.

Tan pit bull mix, not neutered, probably about 55lbs.

Both dog friendly and sweet. The pitty is a little timid.

Unfortunately, Deva was unable to provide any photos of the dogs.

If you’re missing dogs that match these descriptions, or know anything about them, please contact Deva at fetchwest@gmail.com, or call (206) 234-4224.

BTB Reader Jennifer informs us that she found a “Sweet Old Dog” (pictured above) at the intersection of SW 143rd and 6th Ave South in Burien.

Jennifer says that the tan and white dog has black on its ears, cataracts in both eyes and weighs 20-30 pounds.

It’s a possible Shih Tzu mix, and “seems well cared for – hopefully someone is missing him or her,” she adds.

It was not wearing a collar, and no microchip could be found.

Please call (206) 651-5536 if you might know who the owners are.

The King County Sheriff’s Department announced Thursday (Dec. 23rd) that a skull found in an Auburn ravine on Tuesday (Dec. 21st) was positively identified as Rebecca “Becky” Marrero (pictured, left), very likely a victim of the so-called Green River Killer, Gary Ridgeway.

The remains were identified by Dr. Gary Bell, who performs forensic odontology for Medical Examiner’s Office and the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab.

Marrero was last seen on Dec. 3, 1982, when she left a motel room at S. 168th and Pacific Highway South in SeaTac. She was 20 years old at the time.

Marrero was reported missing to the Sheriff’s Office by her mother on July 20, 1984. Her disappearance was investigated by the Green River Task Force, and she was believed to be a Green River victim.

Ridgway was arrested on Nov. 30, 2001. Two years later he plead guilty to the murder of 48 women and was sentenced to 48 consecutive live terms. He was not charged in the Marrero case.

The remains of Marie Malvar were found on Sept. 28, 2003 in the same general area where Marrero was found. Malvar was last seen in 1983 at S. 216th and Pacific Highway South. Ridgway was convicted in the Malvar homicide.

Ridgway was questioned extensively in 2003 about Becky Marrero’s disappearance. However by policy, the Sheriff’s Office does not discuss what suspects say or don’t say during the investigation of open cases.

Mary Hudson, who found the dog, wrote this email to us with the news:

Lolita was found by her owner today, thanks to your blog.

Don’t you feel good about that, Scott?

Thanks!
Mary

PREVIOUSLY:

BTB Reader Mary Hudson sent us an email about how she found this small, white female Fox Terrier Monday morning (Dec. 6th) on the west side of Ambaum Blvd. SW and SW 148th:

If you know who this cute dog belongs to, please email Mary at mmla(at)comcast.net

Mary adds:

I really cannot keep her, although my kids beg to differ.

I hope that she is found soon.

BTB Reader Rob Ketcherside sent us an email Tuesday, along with a photo of a recent historic find he made that references the “Hi-Line Highway” to Burien.

It’s a map printed in 1927 to promote the “Times Square Garage,” located at 6th and Olive in downtown Seattle. “Times Square” was the name given to the area at 5th, Westlake, Olive, Stewart and 6th, and apparently this garage is still operating.

Here’s a pic, along with Rob’s thoughts on it:

1927 Seattle Highway Map with front and back cover

This map folds out to reveal the 1927 Washington State Highway Map.

I nearly giggled like a little girl when I found this at an antique store last weekend.

The map was published for Times Square Garage, “Your Auto Home” at 6th and Olive in Seattle. Times Square was the name of the area at 5th, Westlake, Olive, Stewart, and 6th, and the district stretching north a bit from there.

At the bottom of the map you can see a road labeled "From Tacoma (hi-line)."

I don’t know what’s more amazing to me. Think about this. In 1909, the nation was enraptured by the race from NY to Seattle on muddy roads. Not even 20 years later AAA could make a map of highways in Washington State. And Seattle had a seven-story parking garage. Both facts are astonishing.

That parking garage was built sturdy in 1925, and you can still park in it today. It’s gotta be one of the oldest continuous use parking garages in the world, doesn’t it? I’m only sad that they’ve covered up the old clock added in the 50s.

The list of attractions includes a “Frozen Fish Aquarium”, and humorously it says which streetcar line to take to each point of interest. I guess the longer you park your car, the more money they make!

Even better than all of that… look at the roads! The route to Vancouver was over the University Bridge. No 99, no I-5. And of the two roads to Tacoma, the one along 1st Avenue is subtitled “hi-line”. Well now. Hi-line, or Highline, of course is the name for the Burien and White Center area. And in the 1970s, local history tome Our Burien and many other sources, the story goes that “Hi-line” was a nickname for the streetcar to Burien, which was intended to go to Tacoma and be an alternate to the Interurban. That never made sense to me, because I’ve found no evidence that the streetcar was supposed to go any farther than Burien. What if, then, the name instead comes from the old brick highway which became Des Moines Memorial Way?

“Thank your for being great” was printed on a service quality comment card after a veteran driver with the Seattle Tacoma International Taxi Association (STITA) saw that the loser of a “very nice wallet” got her lost property back.

Last Saturday, (August 28), a passenger in a STITA taxi van found the wallet in the back and driver Patty Stephens went through it, finding an alien residence card (green card), many credit cards, fitness cards, Costco cards, and a child’s identification card. There was an unreported amount of cash also in the wallet.

Driver Stephens didn’t know if that wallet was from her most recent passenger or not, and the taxi dispatcher had not received any calls about a lost wallet.

Using the child’s identification card, Stephens did a Web search and found the phone number on the identification card and tracked down the contact information for a woman. She called and spoke with the woman, who said she had lost her wallet a week ago, and had already canceled all of her credit cards.

The woman and her family met with Patty Stephens earlier this week and gave her a $50 reward and filled out a comment card which gave the taxi service “excellent” marks for STITA service and said they would use it again and recommend it to others.

The King County Sheriff’s Department is reporting that the 10-week old Scottish Terrier puppy that was stolen in the burglary of a Burien pet store on Thursday, July 29th (read our first report here), was found Sunday morning, Aug. 1st.

As we first reported Thursday, deputies on routine patrol heard the pet store’s burglar alarm go off around 4:12am that morning, then tracked it to “A Place For Pets” (431 SW 152 Street) and found the rear door in the alley open. Further investigation revealed the burglar probably got into the store by removing an air conditioner unit from a rear window, before stealing just the puppy, which was valued at $745.

According to Sgt. John Urquhart, on Sunday morning (Aug. 1) Sheriff’s deputies went to a 911 call in Burien to speak with a 17 year-old female victim of a harassment and minor assault, neither of which she wanted prosecuted. However the victim did mention that the female suspect in the assault, also 17, and her 17-year old boyfriend had a stolen dog that she saw in news reports.

Deputies then went to the Burien apartment where the two puppynappers (both 17) were staying. The stolen pup was found, “in generally good health, although she could use some doggy charcoal breath mints,” according to Urquhart.

The two suspects told officers a story about how they acquired the dog that, according to police, “no one in their right mind would believe.”

There have been no arrests so far.

The puppy was returned to “A Place For Pets” in downtown Burien and reunited with all her furry friends, and, Urquhart adds: “there was not a dry eye in the house.”

The once-stolen puppy has been safely returned to Burien's "A Place for Pets."

The old saying “Finders Keepers” could’ve been easily used as an excuse, but instead, Burien St. Vincent de Paul thrift store manager My Hong Bui chose to “Do the right thing” when she found a box of valuable collector coins in a donated dresser.

That’s right – she managed to track down the donor of the dresser, and the grateful, rightful owner was set to pick them up the coins Wednesday.

Some of the found & returned collector coins.

“Although we take donations of all kinds, these coins were mistakenly included in the dresser drawer. We are glad to return them and are grateful that our Store Manager did the right thing,” says Richard Bray, Director of Donor & Community Relations, Society of St. Vincent de Paul of Seattle/King County.

This isn’t the first time this kind of thing has happened – last August, $10,000 was found stuffed in a projector at the Lynnwood St. Vincent de Paul Store and the charity did the right thing then – they found the donor and returned those funds.

St. Vincent de Paul is known for its home visits to the poor, community thrift stores and food and meal programs which provide more than 1 million meals annually. In addition St. Vincent de Paul has case management outreach to homeless people and ex-offenders in the Central District of Seattle. More than 87,000 hours of volunteer service is given annually to help neighbors in need.

The Burien St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store is located at 13445 1st Avenue South (206-243-6270), so next time you’re there be sure to tell My what a good egg she is.

St. Vincent de Paul Store Manager My Hong Bui shows where she found the valuable coin collection. Photos courtesy St. Vincent de Paul.

Our good friend Manuela Horn (aka Burien’s “Yodeling Dominatrix”) alerts us to the fact that her mother-in-law, Susie Watkins, found a small green parrot in the garden outside her office, Realty West Properties, located at 804 SW 148th Street in Burien.

The bird is now safely caged at Manuela’s home, but everyone’s certain it’d be happier reunited with its master/mistress.

Do you recognize this bird?

If you know this bird, please call Susie Watkins at (206) 650-3908 immediately…else suffer the wrath of one of Manuela’s many characters (see Amy Bouska’s video interview of her here).