ANACORTES, Wash. (TCD) — Police are actively searching for a man after he allegedly stabbed his 41-year-old elementary school teacher wife to death this week and reportedly drove off toward a bridge.
On Tuesday, April 9, at approximately 4:38 p.m., officers with the Anacortes Police Department responded to a home in the 2200 block of J Avenue about a possible stabbing. Police found the victim, identified by KCPQ-TV as Caitlin Follstad, dead at the scene. The victim’s father-in-law initially reported the incident.
According to police, Follstad’s husband, a person of interest in her death, drove toward the Deception Pass bridge. Officers noted the man is possibly suicidal.
Washington State Patrol troopers found the person of interest’s vehicle on the center island of the Deception Pass bridge, but they did not find the man.
Police have deployed search dogs from Snohomish County to help in the search for Follstad’s husband.
Multiple agencies responded to a report of a body found in the water near Deception Pass earlier in the day. However, according to officers, officials have not recovered a body. Police believe the cases may be related.
The couple’s children have been placed with family members.
According to the Anacortes School District, Follstad was a “cherished member of the Island View Elementary community. Her passion for education led her to Island View Elementary, where she served as a teacher, mentor, and friend.”
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Tyler Mitchell