The King County Medical Examiner's Office is investigating a suspected drowning May 14 or 15 after the Mercer Island Marine Patrol and Dive Team located a body in Lake Washington directly below his car parked on the Interstate 90 bridge.
State troopers reported a Honda CR-V was parked on the shoulder at about the midway span of the East Channel Bridge on the eastbound lanes of Interstate 90 at around 4 p.m. Saturday, May 14. The vehicle was unlocked and still had the keys in it, and the impounded the vehicle.
The following day, a Redmond family filed a missing person report for the owner of the vehicle, 47-year-old Phousavanh Rithvixay, according to the Mercer Island Police Department report. Both Redmond Police and the State Patrol requested assistance concerning the possibility that the man might be located in the waters of Lake Washington near the midway span — about 90 feet directly below where his SUV was found, according to the report.
Divers later located the body near the Bellevue side of the bridge of the man around 5 p.m. Sunday. Identification in his pocket confirmed his identity as the subject listed in the missing person report. Bellevue Police are currently investigating what caused the man's death, and declined to comment for this story.
