CLARK COUNTY, Wash. (TCN) — Law enforcement officials confirmed they are presuming a 32-year-old woman deceased after she disappeared almost a year ago.
Alana Carroll was reported missing to the Clark County Sheriff’s Office in September. She reportedly had substance abuse problems and “had been staying at various residences” in the area prior to her disappearance.
Investigators have been searching for Carroll since she went missing, but KOIN-TV reports that on Monday, Aug. 5, the sheriff’s office released a statement saying, “We can confirm that we presume Alana Carroll to be deceased and that we continue to actively investigate this case in an effort to locate her remains and discern her cause and manner of disappearance.”
The sheriff’s office said they are pursuing “several leads” and have arrested a person of interest, who is in custody on unrelated charges. The Columbian identified the person of interest as Luke Grant.
According to court documents cited by The Columbian, Carroll’s grandmother reached out to some of Carroll’s friends in the hopes of locating her shortly after she disappeared. The friends reportedly took her to a location in Battle Ground, and people there said they saw Grant and Carroll leaving together.
KOIN, which also cites the court documents, reports Grant allegedly contacted someone and was “freaking out” because he didn’t know “what to do with the body in his trunk.” Officials reportedly believe Carroll died from an overdose between August and October.
Grant allegedly told the person on the phone, “I think she’s dead. I don’t really know.”
Grant reportedly sold his car on Sept. 11, 2023, to an auto parts dealer. It was transferred to another location and “shredded” about a month later. Carroll’s remains are still missing.
Grant has not yet been charged for anything related to Carroll’s presumptive death.