She was loved by all who knew her, but a brutal murder sadly cut her life short.
The body of Nicole Pietz was found in a wooded area near Seatac back in 2006.
Today, authorities remain certain that her killer will be brought to justice, but they need your help.
Washington's Most Wanted's Parella Lewis took on the case to help catch Nicole's killer.
Nicole's mother, Gael Schneider, remembers her loving daughter. "When 'Nici' entered a room, she always had a big smile on her face, and spoke directly to you and remembered things about you."
Pietz was 32 years old and from Lynnwood. She had a full-time job, but also spent time volunteering for the Special Olympics. "When she was in high school, they had special childrens classes, and she was always drawn to the children who weren't as fortunate as she was. So, later as she got older, she worked for the Special Olympics."
On January 29th, 2006, Nicole was supposed to meet a friend for coffee in Renton. She never showed.
The day after, Gael got a phone call from Nicole's husband saying she was missing. "I said what's going on? He said, 'Nicole's gone missing'. What do you mean by gone missing? He said 'Well, she didn't come home last night."
Nicole's body was found 8 days later in a wooded area in Burien, after someone just happened to stumble on her body.
Sgt. John Urqhart with the King County Sheriff's Office took us to the scene, and talked to us about the case. "There was a man walking from Seatac to Burien... kind of taking a short cut, and stopped in the woods here to relieve himself. So, he's about 10-15 feet off the roadway and he stumbles across the body in the afternoon."
She was found naked, and had been strangled.
Her car was later found in a parking lot near the University of Washington, where Sgt. Urquhart said it looked like it had been there for awhile.
Nicole's mother said she didn't hear from her daughter the day before she went missing, and thought that was strange. "She didn't call me on Friday, and I think she must have been very upset on Friday. She called me everyday at 4:30 without fail when she came home from work, and sometimes she'd call me two or three times a day".
A big question investigators have is how Nicole's body ended up all the way in Burien. "One of the things we want to know is she lived in Lynnwood. She was meeting somebody in Renton. She ended up in the city of Burien. What happened at least two out of those three places? We know what happened here. She was dead when she got here."
Authorities are still working on finding Nicole's killer, and believe this case will be solved. They just need a little more information. "Most likely, especially at this point and time, there very well could be someone who knows something... that heard a piece of information... that for whatever reason has held back and not come forward to the police. Now is the time to do that."
The family is offering a $36,000 reward for the arrest of the person, or persons, responsible for the death of their daughter, and is offering to pay any possible legal expenses for anyone who has information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for killing Nicole.
If you know anything, even if you're not sure if it's what authorities need, call: Crime Stoppers: 1-800-222-TIPS
The body of Nicole Pietz was found in a wooded area near Seatac back in 2006.
Today, authorities remain certain that her killer will be brought to justice, but they need your help.
Washington's Most Wanted's Parella Lewis took on the case to help catch Nicole's killer.
Nicole's mother, Gael Schneider, remembers her loving daughter. "When 'Nici' entered a room, she always had a big smile on her face, and spoke directly to you and remembered things about you."
Pietz was 32 years old and from Lynnwood. She had a full-time job, but also spent time volunteering for the Special Olympics. "When she was in high school, they had special childrens classes, and she was always drawn to the children who weren't as fortunate as she was. So, later as she got older, she worked for the Special Olympics."
On January 29th, 2006, Nicole was supposed to meet a friend for coffee in Renton. She never showed.
The day after, Gael got a phone call from Nicole's husband saying she was missing. "I said what's going on? He said, 'Nicole's gone missing'. What do you mean by gone missing? He said 'Well, she didn't come home last night."
Nicole's body was found 8 days later in a wooded area in Burien, after someone just happened to stumble on her body.
Sgt. John Urqhart with the King County Sheriff's Office took us to the scene, and talked to us about the case. "There was a man walking from Seatac to Burien... kind of taking a short cut, and stopped in the woods here to relieve himself. So, he's about 10-15 feet off the roadway and he stumbles across the body in the afternoon."
She was found naked, and had been strangled.
Her car was later found in a parking lot near the University of Washington, where Sgt. Urquhart said it looked like it had been there for awhile.
Nicole's mother said she didn't hear from her daughter the day before she went missing, and thought that was strange. "She didn't call me on Friday, and I think she must have been very upset on Friday. She called me everyday at 4:30 without fail when she came home from work, and sometimes she'd call me two or three times a day".
A big question investigators have is how Nicole's body ended up all the way in Burien. "One of the things we want to know is she lived in Lynnwood. She was meeting somebody in Renton. She ended up in the city of Burien. What happened at least two out of those three places? We know what happened here. She was dead when she got here."
Authorities are still working on finding Nicole's killer, and believe this case will be solved. They just need a little more information. "Most likely, especially at this point and time, there very well could be someone who knows something... that heard a piece of information... that for whatever reason has held back and not come forward to the police. Now is the time to do that."
The family is offering a $36,000 reward for the arrest of the person, or persons, responsible for the death of their daughter, and is offering to pay any possible legal expenses for anyone who has information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for killing Nicole.
If you know anything, even if you're not sure if it's what authorities need, call: Crime Stoppers: 1-800-222-TIPS
