Police Investigating Possible 4Chan Link in Murder of Washington Woman

A woman believed to be in her 30s was found dead in Port Orchard, Washington Tuesday night, and police are investigating a possible, albeit tenuous, link to a 4chan user.

Here’s what we know right now: Images of a woman’s body, nude and bearing what look like strangulation marks on her neck, were reportedly uploaded to a 4chan board yesterday afternoon at 2:56 p.m. (Jezebel has seen screenshots of the purported images, but not the original posts.) A comment accompanying the images read, “Turns out it’s way harder to strangle someone to death than it looks on the movies.”

A second comment by the same user read “She fought so Damn hard [sic].” And a third, after other 4chan users questioned the images’ veracity: “Check the news for Port Orchard Washington in a few hours. Her son will be home from school soon. He’ll find her, then call the cops. I just wanted to share the pics before they find me. I bought a BB gun that looks realistic enough. When they come, I’ll pull it and it will be suicide by cop. I understand the doubts. Just check the fucking news. I have to lose my phone now.”

The Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office has confirmed to local news channel KIRO 7 that a woman was found dead around 3:30 p.m. yesterday by a family member. She has not been publicly identified. Neighbors told the news station the woman’s son had discovered the body. The woman’s car is also missing: it’s a gold 2001 Ford Focus with the back two tires doughnut spares and WA license 495-YLY. Based on the crime scene, detectives told KIRO without elaboration, “the woman appears to have been targeted.” They’re aware of the images, they said, but still not sure if they’re actually linked to the crime.

Reddit boards linked to 4chan immediately erupted with news of the murder. “CNN HERE WE COME,” one user remarked. On another thread, a commenter said, simply, “I’m not having fun anymore.” And a third: “It just hit me how fucked up this is. Some kid is going to come home and find his dead mom. Jesus. I feel sick.”

We’ll keep you updated as we learn more. If you live in the Port Orchard area and you see the missing car, call 911.

Update, 2 p.m.:

The Smoking Gun has identified the woman as Amber Lynn Schraw, a 30-year-old mother of four. According to the site, several of Schraw’s relatives posted about the death on Facebook yesterday, and identified the man they believe to be the perpetrator, although they didn’t outline Schraw’s relationship to him:

In a Facebook post late yesterday, Schraw’s stepmother wrote, “Please pray for my family. My step daughter died today. Fml.”

In a Facebook message today, the father of Schraw’s two boys identified the woman’s killer as a 33-year-old Port Orchard man whose rap sheet includes arrests for domestic violence, harassment, marijuana possession, assault, drunk driving, and destruction of property.

Schraw’s sister identified the same man as her sibling’s killer in a Facebook post today. “He murdered my baby sister Amber yesterday and took her car…If you see him please call 911,” she wrote.

Update, 4 p.m.:

Kitsap County police have identified the suspect as David Kalac, 33. News channel Q 13 reports he was spotted driving Schraw’s car in Portland around 1:00 a.m. Police chased him, but were forced to fall back after he started to swerve into oncoming traffic.

Kalac is believed to be armed and dangerous. Again, if you spot him or the car, stay away and call 911.