A man from British Columbia has been identified as a suspect in a forty-year-old cold case homicide in Wenatchee, Wash.
However, according to the Wenatchee Police Department (WPD), the man died almost two decades ago.
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On May 14, 1986, the WPD was called to an area behind the small city’s Stanley Civic Center where the body of a woman, Carol Traicoff, was found and determined to have been the victim of homicide.
“At the time, detectives pursued all available investigative leads; however, no suspect was positively identified,” police said.
Forensic evidence was collected and sent to the FBI for analysis. However, the forensic testing available at that time was insufficient to produce any leads.
In January 2023, a now-retired WPD detective looked into the case and discovered there were new technologies that didn’t exist four decades ago that could help in the investigation.
“Evidence, originally collected, was submitted for further examination with improved modern testing,” the police department said.
“These tests located DNA of an unknown male.”
In 2024, the DNA was sent to an American company that specialized in genetic genealogy. The WPD says this company was able to identify a possible family lineage and showed a “main geographical genealogy” within Canada and the U.S.
The WPD says the DNA results were then sent to Canada to be compared to databases in this country.
On Feb. 24, 2025, the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab identified the suspect as Henry B. Leland of Kamloops.
Leland had passed away in December 2007.
Police were able to track down Leland’s sister, his only known living biological relative, who was living in Gold Bar, Wash. She assisted with the investigation by providing her DNA, and police were able to confirm Leland as the suspect.
“Based on the investigation, it is believed that on or around May 14, 1986, Henry B. Leland killed Carol Traicoff,” the WPD said.
“There is no current evidence to suggest another suspect, and it is believed that Leland and Traicoff were alone at the time.”
Police have declared the investigation officially closed.
Leland was unhoused when he passed away in Kamloops in 2007. A couple years after his death, according to a 2009 B.C. Ministry of Housing and Social Development news release, the provincial government named a 28-unit supportive housing development in his honour.
“He was regarded by the community as a kind soul, and unfortunately passed away in December 2007 due to exposure,” the ministry said at the time.
1130 NewsRadio reached out to BC Housing for information on whether or not the housing project will be renamed. In response, the organization says that ASK Wellness — the society that operates Henry Leland House — is consulting with local Indigenous Elders regarding changing the building name.
“Typically, non-profit providers take the lead on naming supportive housing buildings,” the statement says.
“Given the significance of this finding, BC Housing will work with ASK Wellness on the path forward to rename the building.”
BC Housing says ASK has connected with the First Nation Tk’emlups and Skeetchestn to seek guidance about the naming of the building.
“The Province and BC Housing will have more to share as these important conversations continue and next steps are confirmed.”
