PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office is now working with the Portland Police Bureau regarding the deaths of Marcine Herinck and Merrilee Cooley — a woman who was killed in 2016.
Detectives believe the body found in the trunk of Timothy Mackley’s car on Monday night to be that of Herinck, the 89-year-old woman who went missing on Sept. 19.
Mackley was arrested and charged with murder after a woman’s body was found in his car. The 58-year-old convicted sex offender made his first court appearance Wednesday afternoon and pleaded not guilty.
After learning more about the Herinck case, Clackamas County reached out to Portland police about the unsolved murder of Cooley — saying the two deaths are similar.
The Cooley family declined to comment Thursday about this turn of events.
Cooley’s neighbors, like Andelain Pierce, still wonder what happened.
Both women were found murdered in a car’s trunk. “It’s not what you hear about every day,” Pierce said.
Cooley, 68, was last seen by her family on Dec. 26, 2016. Then, on Jan. 5, Milkwaukie police found her car in the parking lot of the Miramonte Lodge Apartments. Cooley’s body was found in the trunk.
A medical examiner later determined Cooley died of homicidal violence, but no suspect information was ever released.
The investigation into Herinck’s death
When the search for Herinck began, investigators did not suspect foul play. However as the case continued, “additional information” indicated there was foul play. Mackley was identified as a person of interest.
Officer stopped Mackley’s Camry Monday night and found the body, “likely” Herinck, in the trunk, authorities said.
Herinck, who lived by herself, suddenly disappeared from her home last week after she was dropped off by a family member. She had worked that day, September 18, at her longtime volunteer job at a nearby thrift store on Northeast Halsey.
KOIN 6 News learned Mackley — who lived less than a mile away from Herinck and the thrift store — had been shopping at that store while she was working there.
“It’s a terrible loss, a tragedy, it’s overwhelming to comprehend,” said the thrift store manager Tim Zollbrecht. “I feel for the family and friends who were part of that circle of friends.”