This story was updated to reflect breaking news at 11 p.m., Thu., Jan. 19
VANCOUVER — Detectives from the Clark County Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes Unit have arrested a 21-year-old Vancouver man in connection with the murder of Amy Marie Hooser, whose body was discovered Sun., Jan. 15, in the burned-down convenience store off Fourth Plain Boulevard where she worked.
Major Crimes detectives along with detectives from the Tactical Detective Unit, located the suspect, Mitchell Heng, at a relative’s home in Vancouver on Thu., Jan. 19, and took him into custody without incident.
Heng’s arrest is connected to the Sun., Jan. 15, fire at the Oasis market, located at 13412 N.E. Fourth Plain Road in Vancouver.
Our previous coverage of the fire at Oasis Mart. Video by Andi Schwartz.
Fire crews from the Vancouver Fire Department responded to the three-alarm commercial fire around 5:30 a.m. Sunday morning and reported seeing “a large volume of fire coming from the structure.” A total of 36 fire personnel from VFD and Clark County Fire District 3 fought the fire for more than an hour, but the building was a total loss.
When investigators with the Clark County Fire Marshall’s Office and the Clark County Major Crimes Unit came to investigate the cause of the fire later that day, they discovered a body in the rubble of the burned-out convenience store. Police later identified the victim as 47-year-old Amy Marie Hooser, an employee of the store and Vancouver resident.
After determining that Hooser died of smoke inhalation and blunt force trauma, police ruled her death a homicide.
On Thursday, police charged Heng with murder in the first degree, arson in the first degree and robbery in the first degree, and booked him into the Clark County Jail. He is expected to make his first court appearance on Fri., Jan. 20.
