Husband sought in double-murder

The bodies of a slain woman and her daughter, exhumed from an unmarked grave in Kelso, Wash. for DNA testing last April, have been returned to their native Fiji, where they were cremated three weeks ago in a Hindu ceremony before their ashes were scattered to the sea.



Two decades ago, Raj Narain, 24, a Fiji Islander living in Eugene, and 14-month-old Kamnee Koushal Narain, were found in separate southwest Washington rivers.


Last month, police using DNA evidence linked the pair as mother and daughter, solving the 20 year mystery of the victims’ identities.


No one has been arrested in the killings though police want to question the woman’s husband, Ashok Narain, who went missing a few months after she and the baby were found.


Fishermen found her headless and legless body in the Lewis River downstream from Woodland, Wash., on Sept. 11, 1987. Her legs were later found in the Willamette River in Portland. Nearly two weeks later, a fisherman found the baby’s body floating in the Cowlitz River near Longview, Wash.


Kelso Police Chief Capt. Vern Thompson is appealing to the Fijian community in B.C. to help locate Ashok Kumar Narain (seen with his wife in this picture).
“Hopefully, we can catch this person of interest,” says Capt. Thompson.
 “If Narain is still alive, Canada could be a probable place for him to hide.”


Cowlitz Country Sheriff’s Detective Sgt. Joe Reiss told The Asian Pacific Post that Interpol is also assisting in trying to locate Narain.


Reiss said that they have received several calls from “tipsters” on the whereabouts of Narain.
“Everytime, we get a call like this, we immediately dispatch a team to verify but so far we have not located him.”

Anyone with information in the Narain case is encouraged to call Kelso Police Detective Damon Blain at (360) 423-1270, Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Detective Sgt. Joe Reiss at (360) 577-3092, Eugene Police Detective Matt Herbert at (541) 682-5174 or Crime Stoppers of Cowlitz County at (360) 577-1206.

You can also send an email to editor@asianpacificpost.comor call our office at (604) 821-1954.
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