Double Homicide Suspects Identified as John Scott Raczykowski and Larry Duane Kleven
Photo of John Scott Raczykowski from the Klickitat County Sheriff’s Office.
By Cole Goodwin
Klickitat County, Washington - Authorities have identified two suspects in the double homicide case near Goldendale, Washington. One suspect is still at large. John Scott Raczykowski, a 31-year-old resident of Rufus, Oregon, is wanted on two counts of murder in the first degree in the deaths of Elisha Ann King, 34, and Jeremy Allen Wyatt, 35.
Warrants were issued for Raczykowski, is considered armed and dangerous. Authorities attempted to arrest the suspect at his residence in Rufus, but he fled approximately 20 minutes before the SWAT Teams arrived.
According to the Klickitat County Department of Emergency Management, the investigation started on March 16, 2023, after the FBI Taskforce out of Yakima, Washington, alerted them of a possible suspect involved in burning two bodies on the Yakama Nation Tribal Reservation in the Toppenish area. One of the suspects was believed to be in the Goldendale area.
On March 17, 2023, a traffic stop was conducted on a vehicle associated with one of the suspects in Goldendale. Two subjects were taken into custody, and one of them, Larry Duane Kleven, 57, has been charged with rendering criminal assistance in the first degree for the destruction of physical evidence. The other subject was found to have a warrant for his arrest in an unrelated case.
The investigation has led authorities to identify two crime scenes: the homicide scene on Box Canyon Road north of Goldendale, where the two people were believed to have been murdered, and another crime scene located along Highway 97 on the Yakama Nation Tribal Reservation where the bodies of the deceased had been burned.
Agents from the FBI Seattle Office and FBI Yakima Office, as well as the Washington State Patrol Detective unit and Crime Scene Response Team, assisted in processing the crime scenes.
The Sherman County Sheriff's Office, and The Dalles Police Department SWAT Team, as well as the Mid-Columbia SWAT Team, are also assisting in the investigation.
Klickitat County Sheriff Bob Songer has said he suspects the murders are drug related.
Anyone with information on Raczykowski's whereabouts is urged to contact the Klickitat County Sheriff's Office at (509) 773-4545 or the FBI at (206) 622-0460.
Raczykowski has been described as being 6’1”, 210 pounds with green eyes and blonde hair.
