Clarkston woke up to a quiet shock Wednesday morning after 42-year-old Kacey M. Storm was found dead along the Greenbelt Trail, just south of the Interstate Bridge. The spot is a familiar one. People walk dogs there. Runners pass through before work. Cyclists cut across town. By midmorning, it had become a crime scene.
Police were called shortly after 7 a.m. following a report of an unconscious person on the trail. The initial call described a man. When officers arrived, they realized the victim was a woman. Medics could do nothing. Storm was pronounced dead at the scene.
Detective Darin Boyd said early evidence points to a suspected overdose. Items recovered nearby led investigators to believe drugs may have been involved. Still, authorities are being careful. No final cause of death has been determined, and the investigation is far from over.
The Asotin County Coroner, Lisa Webber, has ordered full toxicology testing. Those results will clarify whether drugs played a role and what substances may have been involved. Officials say those tests often take several weeks, leaving answers slow to come for those who knew Storm.
Police confirmed that Storm’s next of kin has been notified. Investigators also said she was transient at the time of her death. Detectives are now working backward, trying to trace her last movements and determine how long she may have been on the trail before she was discovered.
Despite the investigation, the Greenbelt Trail was not closed. Officers remained in the area for hours, documenting the scene as walkers and cyclists continued past, some slowing down, others stopping to ask questions. The contrast was hard to miss: everyday life moving on beside sudden loss.
Authorities are asking anyone who saw Storm in the area or has information about her final hours to come forward. The case has renewed local concern about substance abuse and safety in public spaces that many in Clarkston consider extensions of their own neighborhoods.
For now, the trail is open again, but the questions linger. A woman is gone. A community is left wondering how a regular morning turned tragic, and whether anything could have changed the ending.
