The state employee who discovered child porn in a secret tree house in the forest near North Bend revealed Tuesday how he made the discovery.
"I was first made aware of the existence of the cabin through volunteers who were active in the area," said Christoper Jones, a trail steward with Washington Department of Natural Resources. He spoke with reporters at the agency's headquarters in Olympia.
In the fall of 2016, Jones set out to find the illegally-built cabin, about eight miles up Southeast Middle Fork Road in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.
On his fourth try, he found the well-hidden tree house covered in tar paper. It was almost fairytale in appearance, but with a horror story inside -- framed photos of child pornography screwed into the walls.
According to charging documents, "Two photos, in particular, showed individual girls standing naked… exposed;" "On a bookshelf in the cabin … envelope that contained more images;" and "Many of the images were consistent with child pornography…," wrote FBI Special Agent Ingrid Arbuthnot-Stohl.
"It was shocking and disturbing," said Jones. "I've never seen anything like that. I worked in the woods for 11 years and never seen anything quite like that."
Jones contacted the authorities, who launched an investigation. In April 2017, a search and rescue volunteer who also knew of the structure told investigators he had also seen a Toyota FJ Cruiser and remembered the license number parked on the road near the trailhead. That led investigators to zero in on Daniel Wood, 56, of Mill Creek.
After months of surveillance, investigators used DNA from a disposable cup Wood used to match him to DNA found in the cabin.
Jones gives credit to the law enforcement who cracked the case, and the tipsters who told him about the secret in the forest.
"The main reason I found out about this in the first place is because the public told us about it," said Jones. "I would encourage the public if you know about any illegal structure or activity, please contact the agency and let them know."
