The search intensifies near Wan that for a missing 17-year-old girl. It’s been 72 hours since Mackenzie Cal was last seen leaving beauty school in Wanachi. We begin tonight with breaking news out of Douglas County where the body of 17-year-old McKenzie Cal has been found on the shore of the Columbia River.
Investigators are keeping quiet about what was found at the scene and in this home 30 yards from the body. A man is under arrest for the murder of 17-year-old Mackenzie Cowell. And that suspect is a 29-year-old man who went to beauty school with McKenzie. Police say this man, Christopher Wilson, left school at the same time as McKenzie on the last day she was seen alive.
On February 9th, 2010, 17-year-old McKenzie Cowell walked out the back doors of the Wanachi Academy of Hair Design at 300 p.m. She told someone she was just stepping out for a 15-minute break. Nothing unusual, just a normal afternoon. At 3:42 p.m., she texted her boyfriend. Woman’s quote message. Hi, normal chat. End quote. And that was it.
After that, her phone was never used again. At 8:00 p.m., police called her father. Her car had been found in Pitcher Canyon, miles away from the school. The vehicle was locked. Inside were her bag and her clothes, but her phone, her keys, and her bank cards were gone. In the snow, there was only one set of footprints leading away from the car, not toward it, away.
4 days later, she was found dead. She was still wearing her beauty school uniform. She had been beaten, stabbed, and strangled. There were no drugs and no alcohol in her system. Investigators found no evidence of sexual assault. After her death, someone had tried to cut off her arm. A serrated knife was still lodged in her shoulder.
Nearby, there were pieces of duct tape. At that point, this was no longer just a missing child case. It exploded into something much bigger. More than 800 people were interviewed. Thousands of pages of phone records were pulled. Detectives combed through Facebook and MySpace accounts, like digging through every possible lead.
One informant claimed she had seen a snuff video of McKenzie’s murder. She even named two men. She handed over a ring that she said belonged to McKenzie. Investigators checked everything. The alibis were solid. No video was ever found. Seven long months went by with nothing. Then a letter from jail changed everything. Another informant named someone Christopher Wilson, 29 years old.
He had attended the same academy. He lived just a few blocks away. On the day McKenzie disappeared, he walked out those same back doors less than 2 minutes after she did. He had no alibi. Three witnesses later told detectives they saw a thin man with dark hair wearing a long coat near the spot where her car had been left. The description lined up.
It matched Christopher Wilson. Wilson denied everything. Said he barely knew her. He even voluntarily gave a DNA sample like he had nothing to hide. but his DNA match samples taken from the duct tape found near her body. He also claimed he had never been to that remote canyon. The moment investigators told him about the DNA match, he immediately asked for a lawyer.
Then more searches were carried out. Inside his apartment, police found a large amount of Mckenzie’s blood in the carpet. Wilson tried to explain the dark stain away by saying he had spilled water. Just water. Investigators determined that she had been killed inside his apartment. on his computer.
They found photos of a female friend posing on that exact same piece of carpet. There was also a video of him checking whether everything looked clean before moving out of the apartment. That detail, it didn’t sit right. The charge was upgraded to first-degree murder. He was facing up to 26 years in prison. At first, he rejected a plea deal that would have given him 6 years, but right before trial, he asked for that deal back.
He said the jury already saw him as guilty, so like what chance did he really have? In the end, he pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter and robbery. In 2012, he was sentenced to more than 14 years in prison. In 2023, after serving 11 12 years, he was released.
A 17-year-old student stepped out for a 15-minute break. Just hours later, her car was sitting in a dark canyon. A few days after that, she was found strangled. This is a case about a short walk out a back door and a man who walked out right behind her. And to really understand this story, we have to go back to the very beginning.
17-year-old McKenzie Cowell lived in Wacci, Washington, a small picturesque town in the center of the state, right along the Columbia River. It’s the kind of place where everyone seems to know everyone, where life feels quiet, almost peaceful on the surface. Wachi is known as the apple capital of the world because of the countless orchards that surround it.
acres and acres of apple trees that’s basically part of the town’s identity. It’s this mix of small town calm, mountain views, and outdoor adventure. You can walk along the riverfront, go hiking in the foothills of the Cascades, get out on the water in the summer, and then just a short drive away, there’s skiing and snowboarding in the winter.
It’s kind of the perfect stop if you’re road tripping through Washington State, or if you just want a quiet weekend surrounded by nature. By the way, where are you watching from and what time is it where you are right now? I’m honestly really curious where this audience is spread out.
Go ahead and drop your city and the time in the comments. And while you’re typing, I’ll keep going. McKenzie split her time between her mom’s house and her dad’s house. She was getting ready to graduate from high school and was already enrolled in cosmetology classes, training to become a hair stylist. That was her plan. She was focused.
Music and dance were another huge part of her life. She often performed with her school dance team, the Appalletes, at local parades and festivals. So yeah, she wasn’t just a student. She was involved. She was active. She was out there living. People described McKenzie as kind, talkative, the type of girl who could start a conversation with anyone.
Family always came first for her. Over the years, she had really grown into herself and become more confident. But it hadn’t always been that way. She desperately wanted surgery to correct a misaligned bite. Because of that condition, she had been bullied for years, and that kind of thing stays with you. It shapes you.
Her pastor once said, “Every single day, someone teased her.” But McKenzie never let herself be humiliated. The teasing and the bullying only made her stronger. Her dad used to say he was always amazed at how hard she worked. Her day started a little after 6:00 in the morning, and she wouldn’t get home until 12 hours later.
school, dance practice, modeling, and on top of that, she had just enrolled at the Wanachi Academy of Hair Design to earn extra credits. Her focus and work ethic were honestly impressive, especially for someone so young. She was dating Whim Visano, and he was head over heels for her. They were almost inseparable. Everything seemed to be falling into place for McKenzie Cowell.
It looked like her life was finally lining up the way she had hoped. On February 9th, 2010, her father, Reed, had planned a quiet dinner at home, just the two of them, father and daughter. McKenzie was always busy, so evenings like that, sitting down together over a good meal, really meant something.
Reed knew her classes at the academy ended at 5:00 p.m., but that day, she didn’t call to say she was on her way home. That was unusual. About 40 minutes later, he tried calling her himself. The phone went straight to voicemail. not even one ring. He later said that in that exact moment, everything inside him just went cold.
An hour passed, then another around 8:00 p.m. Just as the family was getting ready to call the police, Reed received a call instead. Officers had found his old car, the one McKenzie mostly drove in Pitcher Canyon. It was miles away from the beauty school. Reed told them his daughter had been driving it that day.
The officer responded that no one was around the vehicle. No one at all. Reed headed there immediately. It was bitterly cold, completely dark. Snow was beginning to settle on the ground. The location was so remote, you wouldn’t just end up there by accident, especially not at that hour. Long, winding roads through rolling hills.
No street lights for miles. The car was positioned in a way that almost looked intentional, like someone had tried to hide it. As Reed approached, he saw the flashing police lights cutting through the darkness. That’s when everything felt real and terrifying. The car was locked. Inside, they could see Mackenzie’s bag and some of her clothing.
When officers opened the vehicle, they confirmed her keys, her phone, and her bank cards were missing. There was only one set of footprints in the snow leading away from the car. It appeared that when the vehicle was abandoned, only one person had been inside. That’s how the search for McKenzie Cowell began. and Reed later described that night as long, dark, and truly ominous.
Kids in Chalan County need your help tonight finding a missing 17-year-old. McKenzie Cowell was last seen Tuesday in Wanachi as she left beauty school. Her car was found several hours later, 40 miles from her home. KXY4’s Annie Bishop is live in our studio with information on the search.
Annie, and it has been an exhaustive search. They’ve searched the steep terrain where her car was found with blood hounds by air and on foot several times and still nothing. And that is why it is so important for you to take a good look at her photo tonight. Investigators hope you have seen McKenzie and can help bring her home.
McKenzie’s 2000 Pontiac Grand Prix was found abandoned off Pitcher Canyon Road around 7:00 Tuesday night, 40 miles from her home in Arondo. Inside her car, detectives found her purse and clothes, but her debit card was missing. The Washington State Crime Lab processed that car and found nothing out of the ordinary.
McKenzie has been listed as an endangered missing person. The criteria surrounding her disappearance does not meet Amber Alert standards. As of tonight, five FBI agents and seven detectives are trying to figure out what happened to McKenzie. Well, it’s unusual for the caliber of this kid from what we’re getting from McKenzie’s past. She’s not a troubled kid.
She’s a good student. She’s a smart kid. She’s involved in a lot of community functions. And when she just doesn’t have a a violent abduction of children, crime rate at all. And McKenzie is 5’8, 110 lbs with brown eyes and brown hair. She has braces and both ears pierced. If you have any information, you’re asked to call this tip line at 509-6676848.
Now, an FBI profiler, we’re told, is on his way from Washington DC to help put together a profile for McKenzie and also a profile for a potential suspect. Right now, they do not have a suspect. Moore told me uh that parents in the area should be concerned until they know what happened to McKenzie.
Reporting live, Annie Bishop, KXLY4HD News. Detectives also went back to the beauty academy. McKenzie’s classmates told them she had mentioned she was stepping out for a bit. She said she wanted to take a 15-minute break and even asked whether she needed to clock out before leaving. And sure enough, surveillance cameras captured her walking out the back doors at 3:00 p.m.
Sharp. She didn’t tell anyone where she was going, but at the time that didn’t seem suspicious to anyone. It was just a quick break. Totally normal. Then at 3:42 p.m., her boyfriend received a text from her. Hey, what’s up? And she replied, “Hi, normal chat.” After that, there were no more messages from her.
It looks like that was the last time her phone was ever used. She had around $20 on her debit card at the time, so she mostly used it for small purchases. But in the days that followed, there was zero activity on the account, not a single transaction. Three local residents came forward saying they had seen a tall, thin white man with very dark hair wearing a long dark coat walking down from the road where McKenzie’s car had been left.
This was sometime between 4:30 and 5:30 p.m. Law enforcement began combing through more than a thousand pages of Mckenzie’s phone records. They also obtained warrants to access her Facebook and MySpace accounts. One journalist later said that from the very beginning, something felt off. Police never once described this as a possible runaway case. And that detail mattered.
Even early on, it felt like this wasn’t a teenager who had simply taken off. It felt darker than that. The search intensifies near Wan that for a missing 17-year-old girl. It’s been 72 hours since Mackenzie Cal was last seen leaving beauty school in Wanachi. And for the fourth time this week, FBI agents and local detectives have searched the area where McKenzie’s abandoned car was found and still have not come up with anything to to lead them to McKenzie or what happened.
Flyers have been posted everywhere in Waci hoping someone will recognize McKenzie or her car. After 4 days of searching, everything changed and people’s worst fears were confirmed. We begin tonight with breaking news out of Douglas County where the body of 17-year-old McKenzie Cal has been found on the shore of the Columbia River.
Investigators are keeping quiet about what was found at the scene and in this home 30 yards from the body. We don’t know where she was killed. Uh we are hoping that the autopsy and the crime scene investigation that’s going to occur tomorrow at the hospital will hopefully lead us to some conclusions on that.
The sheriff is not calling what was found evidence, just clues in their search. A search that so far has no suspects. She was still wearing her beauty school uniform. She had been beaten, stabbed, and strangled. The autopsy confirmed there were no drugs and no alcohol in her system.
It also confirmed that she had not been sexually assaulted. But what made it even more disturbing was this. After her death, someone had tried to cut off her arm. A serrated knife was found lodged in her shoulder. And near her body, investigators discovered pieces of duct tape. Today, dive teams returned to the water near where Mackenzie’s body was found.
They’ve cased the entire resort area of Crescent Bar. Still no suspects. Authorities say her killer could be someone McKenzie knew or it could be an unknown predator. Kenzie Kell found dead in the Columbia River this morning. As text messages spread among Wanachi High School students, pray that her killer is found.
Investigators spread out across two eastern Washington counties searching for clues. Detectives searched through Mackenzie’s cell phone records today, but couldn’t find anything substantial. Police knew right away this was going to be a massive investigation. But now it was no longer a search.
It was a manhunt for McKenzie’s killer. About 1,800 people gathered for a memorial service honoring the 17-year-old. The turnout alone showed how deeply this shook the community. Before long, detectives needed additional support. So, the FBI joined the case. A special task force, the McKenzie Cowell Task Force, was created, pulling in resources from across the region.
This was no small town operation anymore. As investigators always do, they started with the people closest to her. They looked at McKenzie’s boyfriend. They looked at her mother, Wendy’s boyfriend, Joey. According to investigators, her parents were never considered persons of interest. Whim agreed to take a polygraph test, but he later said he failed one question.
And yeah, that definitely raised eyebrows. They asked me, “Do you know who killed McKenzie?” And they told me that was the question I failed, he later said. Still, he insisted he had absolutely no idea who did it. There were no specifics in his answers, just confusion. He kept saying he couldn’t even guess who might be responsible.
Not a single name, not one theory. People who saw him during those days said he looked overwhelmed, exhausted, barely holding it together. He was on edge, and honestly, completely shaken. It was reported that the day before McKenzie disappeared, Joey had supposedly argued with her. That detail immediately caught investigators attention.
Even minor conflicts can become potential motives in cases like this. But after everything was checked out, both Joey and Whim were cleared. Their alibis were confirmed. The theories didn’t hold up. So, detectives had to widen the circle again. The investigation was back to square one, only bigger this time. There were a few promising leads.
A couple of directions seemed like they might go somewhere, but every single one hit a wall. Nothing definitive, no breakthrough. Then police spoke to a woman who had once been a drug dealer and struggled with addiction, but later became a confidential informant, Liz Reed. She claimed she had information that could completely shift the case.
What she told them was shocking. Liz pointed to two alleged drug dealers, Sam and Emanuel, and claimed she had seen a snuff video showing McKenzie’s death. According to her, the murder had been recorded on camera. She said the teenager had been killed because of mistaken identity, like they thought she was someone else.
It was a chilling theory, cold, calculated, and if it were true, it would have completely changed the entire narrative of the investigation. She also said that Sam told her, “I strangled that [ __ ] to shut her up.” Liz was even able to describe the murder weapon before that detail had been officially released. For investigators, that wasn’t something you could just brush off.
She knew information that wasn’t supposed to be public. That gave her story weight, and at the same time, it made detectives cautious. Like, how did she know that? She also handed police a ring. Liz claimed it belonged to McKenzie. According to her, Emanuel had supposedly sent her to the original murder scene, which she said was different from where the body was eventually found to retrieve that ring.
If that were true, it would mean there was a second location. another crime scene that had somehow gone unnoticed in the early stages of the investigation. And that would change everything. But there was a problem. No one close to McKenzie recognized the ring. Friends and family who knew her style, who knew what she wore everyday, couldn’t confirm it was hers.
That seriously weakened Liz’s credibility. At the same time, detectives thoroughly investigated the two men she named. phone records, movement data, employment logs, digital trails, all of it pointed to confirmed alibis. The documentation showed they could not have been involved. Emanuel later spoke publicly, saying he had been trying hard to turn his life around.
He talked about steady work, taking responsibility, raising his young son. He said the accusations hit him hard, not just professionally, but personally. He denied any involvement and pointed to the verified evidence backing up his alibi. Investigators also spent a long time trying to locate the video Liz claimed existed.
She insisted she had seen footage of McKenzie. Detectives checked possible sources, storage devices, digital platforms, communication channels, nothing. There was no trace of any such recording. Over time, law enforcement began to question her reliability. The story wasn’t supported by objective evidence. Eventually, Liz recanted her statement.
But even after taking it back, she continued to insist the video was real and that she had seen it. She later said she withdrew her claims out of fear, afraid police would accuse her of the murder. Authorities responded that they had never accused her of anything like that.
For the next 7 months, while this lead produced nothing concrete, the investigation never stopped. Hundreds of tips were checked. More than 800 people were interviewed. Every message, every phone call, every name was examined. The work was exhausting, slow, methodical. Step by step, detectives continued building the case as carefully as they could.
Reed said he trusted the investigative team completely. He believed they weren’t overlooking anything. That every detail, no matter how small, was being checked, and that sooner or later, it would lead to the answers his family so desperately needed. On 11 at 11, a local mother breaks her silence about the unsolved murder of her teenage daughter.
For more than 3 months now, the mysterious murder of 17-year-old McKenzie Cowell has tormented her city with fear, frustrated detectives, and broken the heart of McKenzie Cow’s mother. So, tonight, she’s calling out for justice. I [snorts] know that you out there know who did this, and it’s important to my family and I for you to bring that person forward.
We were asked from the very beginning to not speak about the case. We didn’t want to wreck the integrity of the investigation and the only thing worse than losing a child is having the perpetrator not caught. But now, the same week, police publicly declared no member of the Cow family is under investigation, detectives urged McKenzie’s mother to talk to Cairo 7 in hopes that what she has to say will bring new witnesses forward.
Even if it’s a silly tip, it could be the answer that they’re looking for. They have a lot of evidence. They just don’t have the right tip. Police have followed 750 tips. They’ve interviewed hundreds of people and taken DNA samples from dozens. None of that has led to the killer. And the hope is tonight’s interview with McKenzie’s mom will lead to a break in the case.
We have to honor that person that she was and the person that she would have become because I never get to see that. Never get to be the grandma. Her brothers don’t get to be uncles. And it’s important that people call that tip line. Eventually, another figure entered the picture and this one shifted the direction of the investigation.
A police informant named Theo Keys sent detectives a letter from jail. It wasn’t formal. It wasn’t polished, but the details in it were specific enough that investigators couldn’t ignore it. That letter changed the momentum of the case and pointed it in a new direction. Theo named a man he believed deserved serious attention, his former friend, 29-year-old Christopher Wilson, a name that would soon come up again and again.
In his letter, Theo described an incident that allegedly happened at a party. He claimed that Chris suddenly, without any clear reason, started choking a mutual acquaintance. It was bizarre, disturbing, and then just as suddenly he let her go and acted like nothing had happened. No explanation, no apology, like it was just some random moment that didn’t matter.
Theo also knew that Christopher had attended the same academy as McKenzie. More than that, he lived only a few blocks from the school. The proximity alone raised questions. Same building, same area, potential overlap, opportunity. Other people who knew Chris described him as odd, kind of eccentric, but quiet and polite.
He didn’t come across as outwardly aggressive in everyday life. And that contrast, that’s what made people uneasy. As more details surfaced, curiosity about him grew. He had an obsessive interest in death, in dead bodies, in stories about serial killers. He had a tattoo of Hannibal Lectar. He was a fan of the show Dexter.
Chris had worked at several funeral homes in the area. That was officially confirmed. One Academy student later said that during a conversation, he allegedly told her he liked dismembering people when he worked with them. Now, maybe that was a joke. Maybe it was taken out of context. But in the middle of a murder investigation, words like that don’t just fade away.
Another woman claimed he once told her he had strangled a hotel guest with a belt. Was that a lie, an attempt to shock, or something else? At that point, they were just statements, but together they were forming a pattern that felt darker and darker. At the same time, his mother insisted that being different doesn’t make someone evil.
She spoke about prejudice, about fear of what doesn’t fit into a neat box. His best friend echoed the same defense. They didn’t see a headline. They saw the person they had known. And while detectives gathered facts, built timelines, and examined evidence, there was this other reality unfolding alongside it.
The perspective of those who simply refused to believe this story could end the way it was starting to look. He’s not perfect, but he’s a good person, she said, describing him as kind and generous. People who knew Chris said what stood out most was that he didn’t really fit the typical image of someone from that area.
He kind of existed outside the usual mold. His long hair dyed jet black. The tattoos, the eccentric clothes, all of it contrasted sharply with the more conservative style of the community. He drew attention. People remembered him. But being different doesn’t make someone a killer. Appearance isn’t evidence. It just isn’t.
Still, the description given by the three witnesses, a thin man seen near the place where McKenzie’s car was abandoned, sounded a lot like Chris. The match felt a little too close to ignore. It wasn’t proof, but it added weight. On the day McKenzie disappeared, Chris had been at the beauty academy. Surveillance cameras showed he walked out of the building less than 2 minutes after she did. and through the same back doors.
2 minutes, that’s nothing. But sometimes, um, that tiny window of time is everything. Then came another issue. Investigators couldn’t confirm where he was for the rest of the day. There was no clear timeline, no reliable witnesses. He sent a few text messages to his ex-girlfriend, but physically no one could place him anywhere, no alibi, just a gap in time that needed explaining.
At the same time, Chris had no criminal record, no prior convictions, nothing in his background that screamed violent offender that forced detectives to ask themselves, “Are we heading down another dead end? Are we building this on circumstantial pieces alone?” Chris denied everything. He said he barely knew McKenzie, just another student at the same academy, nothing more.
He claimed he didn’t really know her and had never had close contact with her. He even voluntarily provided a DNA sample, which on the surface made him look cooperative. But that’s when the situation shifted fast. His DNA matched samples taken from the duct tape found near her body. This wasn’t a vague witness description anymore.
This was a confirmed lab match. And considering how remote the location was, it seemed highly unlikely his genetic material ended up there by accident. Detectives gave him a chance to explain. Had he ever been in that area? Was there any innocent reason that could account for this? Chris said he had never been there. Never. No reason to go.
He completely denied being in that canyon. Then investigators told him about the DNA match on the tape. His reaction was immediate. He asked for a lawyer. The conversation stopped right there. Detectives also noted his fascination with the show Dexter. What unsettled them was the fact that there had been an attempt to cut off Mackenzie’s arm.
In the series, Dexter Morgan kills people, dismembers them, and disposes of bodies in the Gulf Stream off the Atlantic Ocean. Now, being a fan of a TV show isn’t evidence, but in the middle of a murder case like this, the parallel added a darker tone. Ultimately, investigators believe they had enough to arrest him on suspicion of seconddegree murder.
When they informed him of the charge, he showed almost no emotion. He just stared at the detectives with a blank, distant look. No outrage, no panic, just silence. And in this story, that silence felt louder than anything he could have said. A man is under arrest for the murder of 17-year-old Mackenzie Cowell. And that suspect is a 29-year-old man who went to beauty school with McKenzie.
Police say this man, Christopher Wilson, left school at the same time as McKenzie on the last day she was seen alive. KXY4’s Tory Brunetti is in Wanachi tonight with what finally cracked this case. For eight months, the community and her family had no idea who killed her. Few developments, few clues, and hundreds of leads that came up short until a DNA match came through last month.
And today, police say they arrested her killer. Earlier today, the Mackenzie Cow task force arrested 29-year-old Christopher Scott Wilson from his home beneath this hair salon behind me. They say DNA evidence found on a duct tape where they recovered Cal’s body, is what led them to this arrest. Investigators say Wilson went to the Academy of Hair Design at the same time as Cal, but friends of Cal say she was not friends with Wilson.
People who knew both Cal and Wilson say he seemed like a normal nice guy. He even went to Cal’s memorial and was comforting her close friends. Friends and family say they are very relieved that an arrest has been made, but they are shocked it was Wilson. Task force says they have a lot of work ahead of them right now.
They’re really focusing on trying to determine a motive in Wanachi. Detroit Bernetti, KXY4 HD News. Meanwhile, the investigation didn’t slow down for a second. Detectives went back into his former apartment and searched it again. Every corner, every surface, every small detail was re-examined. At the same time, specialists were analyzing his electronic devices, his computer, storage drives, anything that could contain digital traces or hidden information.
The deeper they looked, the deeper this case seemed to go. There was also that dark stain on the carpet. Chris had previously brushed it off as nothing. He said he spilled water after dropping a bong. Just a household accident. No big deal. But investigators didn’t treat it like a small detail. The stained section of carpet was removed and sent to the lab.
The results were highly anticipated and the findings were clear. It was McKenzie’s blood and not just a few drops. There was a significant amount. The volume indicated a major blood loss in that exact spot. That changed everything. Now police could reasonably state that McKenzie had been killed inside his apartment. What had once been just a possible connection became the likely primary crime scene.
The walls, the floor, ordinary household items, they all took on a different meaning. Still, so much remained unknown. No one knew whether McKenzie and Chris had spoken before that day in any meaningful way. No one knew exactly how she ended up in his apartment. They weren’t friends on social media, at least not publicly. There were no visible signs of a close relationship, but her father Reed was firm about one thing.
His daughter would never have gone somewhere with someone she didn’t trust. He believed that with everything he had, so that raised more questions. Did they know each other better than anyone realized? Was there some level of familiarity no one else saw? Or did the situation unfold differently than it appears? Did they talk more at school than people were aware of? Was their connection deeper but unnoticed? Or was she pressured, lured there under some pretense? There are still no clear answers to those questions. And that uncertainty, it
lingers. Even after the official process is over, it leaves this quiet, unsettled feeling that never fully goes away. Wachi police have made a second arrest in connection with the Mackenzie Cowell murder case. Now, 22-year-old Tessa Maria Skylaman was arrested in connection with this case.
Another twist hit this already dark story when law enforcement announced a second arrest. The news came out suddenly and immediately sparked a wave of questions. 22-year-old Tessa Skylon, a friend of Chris, was arrested on suspicion of firstdegree rendering criminal assistance and obstructing law enforcement.
A name that had barely come up before was now front and center. Investigators said they found photographs on Chris’s computer. According to detectives, those images showed Tessa posing in the exact spot on his apartment floor where Mackenzie’s blood had previously been discovered. That detail sounded disturbing.
The same area already identified as containing critical evidence was suddenly back in focus. Photos that might have seemed ordinary at first glance now carried a completely different weight in this context. But Tessa gave a different explanation. She told investigators that Chris had taken the pictures himself.
She said she didn’t know and didn’t realize she was standing on that specific stain. In her version, she had no idea the location was tied to any evidence, and she didn’t understand how the photos could be interpreted as proof of involvement. Her account directly challenged the suspicions building around her.
Ultimately though, it would be up to the court and the evidence to decide what those images really meant. And there was something else. Investigators also uncovered a video recorded around the time Chris was moving out of the apartment. That footage was analyzed closely. In the recording, you can hear him asking Tessa if everything looks clean, just a short sentence.
But that line became a major point of discussion. The prosecution could interpret it as a reference to covering up evidence. The defense, on the other hand, could argue it was something completely ordinary, maybe about cleaning before leaving a rental. The phrase itself wasn’t proof. It was context that mattered. This new development made the case even more complex.
It added another layer of suspicion and reinforced the feeling that this story already heavy and unsettling still had unanswered pieces hiding beneath the surface. Video me. Just get away. Is it? Go ahead. Record it. I’m just checking. Does it look clean? Clean for for what happening? Clean considering. Yeah, it’s clean considering.
During the video, the camera zooms in on the exact sections of carpet where the blood stains had been found. Chris later explained that he recorded the footage before moving out of the apartment so he’d have proof that he cleaned thoroughly, basically to make sure he could get his security deposit back. On the surface, that explanation sounds ordinary.
People do that all the time when they leave a rental. The Wachi Police Department arrested the 22-year-old last night, charging her with rendering criminal assistance and obstructing the investigation into McKenzie’s murder. Detectives found pictures of her posing as a dead person on the floor of Wilson’s apartment where McKenzie was killed and in the exact spot where detectives would later find the teen’s blood.
A search warrant also uncovered two cell phone videos of Skylaman walking through the same apartment, zooming in on areas where detectives found Mckenzie’s DNA. Skylman claimed to have no knowledge of what happened to the Wan that teen. Detectives say she has posted bond. Still, despite the arrest, Tessa was ultimately never formally charged.
As for Chris, bail was set at $1 million and he entered a plea of not guilty. Man accused of killing a 17-year-old Wachi girl faced a judge in a packed courtroom today and said he’s not guilty. Charge here, sir. It’s murder in the second degree. How do you plead? No, I guilty. When Christopher Wilson walked into a Chalan County courtroom this morning, his mother started to cry.
She’s not the only one standing by his side. He’s innocent. He didn’t I don’t believe he did it. This friend of Wilson, who didn’t want to be identified, is one of many young women who believe in his innocence. I don’t understand why he’s getting accused of it. Robin Jones, a close friend of Mackenzie Cowl, doesn’t understand how people who went to school with both Cal and Wilson, are so willing to believe he’s not guilty.
McKenzie is the victim. McKenzie didn’t ask to be abducted. She didn’t ask to be brutally murdered. She didn’t ask to be dropped off on the banks of the Columbia River. Um, she was 17 years old. She was an innocent, vibrant, exciting young woman. We still have evidence at the crime lab that’s being analyzed.
We continue to submit evidence to the crime lab for analysis. We continue to interview people uh who were involved with Mr. Wilson. What investigators don’t have is a motive. Something Cal’s friends can only wonder. I don’t think it had anything to do with McKenzie. It was somebody who was sick and deviant and she was easy prey.
Chris’s defense team came out strong from the very beginning. Aggressive, strategic. They fought to exclude certain details they believed could influence the jury emotionally rather than logically. The courtroom atmosphere was tense. Every word mattered. Eventually, the judge ruled that prosecutors could not bring up his work at funeral homes or his tattoo of Hannibal Lectar.
The court decided those details could unfairly prejudice the jury and create a negative image that wasn’t directly tied to the evidence. His defense was led by a well-known attorney, John Henry Brown. In legal circles, that name carried weight. He had previously represented Colton Harris Moore, the so-called barefoot bandit, as well as serial killer Ted Bundy.
Just having someone like that on the case set the tone. It was clear the defense would use every available tool. They went even further. The defense suggested the case might have been staged. They implied that law enforcement could have planted Mackenzie’s blood on the carpet. That was a serious accusation, one that shifted suspicion away from the defendant and toward investigators themselves.
They also argued that Sam and Emanuel, the same two men Liz had previously named, could be the real killers. The strategy was clear. Create reasonable doubt. Offer an alternative narrative. Chris’s mother publicly stated she believed there was a conspiracy against her son. She said he had been deliberately set up. Her stance was emotional, firm, unshaken.
The defense also emphasized something else. Chris’s DNA was not found inside McKenzie’s car, nor on the knife recovered from her body. That argument was repeated in court more than once. They focused on what investigators could not prove. There was also the matter of the ring Liz had provided.
The defense claimed it matched a ring McKenzie appeared to be wearing in a photograph, but prosecutors countered that there was no solid evidence supporting that claim. The photo was low quality and the people closest to McKenzie did not recognize the ring Liz turned over. That detail remained disputed and unresolved.
Despite all this, prosecutors felt confident. They upgraded the charge to first-degree murder, arguing there were signs of premeditation. That raised the stakes dramatically. If convicted, Chris faced up to 26 years in prison. In April 2011, Chris rejected a plea deal that would have given him 6 years for first-degree manslaughter.
A lot of people were stunned. Given the potential sentence, the offer seemed extremely favorable, but he said no. Then, just before trial was set to begin, he changed course. Chris asked to reinstate the 6-year deal. He still maintained he was innocent, but he said jury questionnaires worried him.
According to him, many potential jurors already leaned toward believing he was guilty. He argued that meant he couldn’t get a fair trial. Taking the deal now seemed safer to him. Less risk, fewer unknowns. But by that point, the original 6-year offer was off the table. McKenzie’s family also insisted that he publicly read a statement admitting what he had done.
For them, hearing it directly mattered. In court, he read, “This is my statement. I also did recklessly cause the death of McKenzie Cal by strangulation and by stabbing her with a knife. Uh, Mr. Wilson, is that your statement? Yes. And are are those the things that you did? Yes. Even after everything he had said in court, Chris later began claiming that the written statement wasn’t true.
According to him, those words were drafted strictly as part of a plea agreement. He argued the document reflected legal strategy, not reality. He insisted he had been set up from the start, that the events didn’t unfold the way prosecutors described, that his role in the story had been misrepresented from day one, but formally, legally, he had pleaded guilty.
Court records show that Chris admitted to first-degree manslaughter. He also pleaded guilty to first-degree robbery related to taking McKenzie’s phone. And in a separate unrelated case being handled at the same time, he admitted to assault. Those admissions formed the basis of the final judgment.
In May 2012, the legal chapter reached its formal conclusion. The earlier 6-year plea offer was no longer available. The court sentenced him under revised terms. He received more than 14 years in prison with credit for time already served. Numbers were read aloud in that courtroom numbers that translate into years of a human life.
And once again, everyone present was reminded that no sentence can undo what happened. After the verdict, the courtroom fell silent, heavy, suffocating. Then something unexpected happened. McKenzie’s family and Chris’s family approached one another and embraced. There were no dramatic speeches, no shouting, just exhaustion, grief, the weight of months spent inside a courtroom.
They apologized to each other quietly because at some level both families had lost something that could never be restored. But many people were struck by McKenzie’s family in particular. In the darkest moment of their lives, they showed dignity that’s hard to even put into words. There was no hatred in their voices, only pain and this steady, quiet strength that somehow kept them standing.
Later, Chris attempted to withdraw his guilty plea. He filed with the Washington Court of Appeals, hoping to overturn or revise the decision. It didn’t work. The appeal was unsuccessful. The conviction stood, and for a while, it seemed like the legal story had reached its end. Then we move forward to late 2023. Time for McKenzie’s family wasn’t measured in years.
It was measured in absence. 43-year-old Christopher Scott Wilson was released from prison after serving 11 and 1/2 years. For some people, that sounds like a long sentence. For others, it doesn’t feel like enough. But for a family who lost their 17-year-old daughter, no amount of time balances the scale.
17 years old, that’s barely the beginning. It’s first independence, first big dreams. And even at that age, McKenzie’s determination and work ethic already set her apart. She knew where she was headed. She made plans. She worked toward them step by step. Her energy, her ambition, her stubborn drive, it showed a character that was still forming, but already strong.
She was ready to push through whatever stood in her way. Her room is still almost the same as it was that morning when she left home. It’s like time stopped. Her personal belongings remain where she left them. The small everyday things that once seemed ordinary now feel priceless. It’s a space that still holds her rhythm, her plans, her presence.
Walking into that room feels like stepping back into a less painful time. A simpler day. A day when McKenzie woke up and lived her normal life. She went to school. She worked. She talked with her boyfriend. She spent time with her parents. A day that felt ordinary then. Now it feels like the last moment of peace.
Her father, Reed, said he has a windchime hanging outside his home. A small detail, but it means everything to him. And every time it rings, he hears his daughter’s voice. Not just metal moving in the wind, but memories breaking through the silence. He says it feels like she’s still nearby, like she’s still talking to them in some quiet way, carried in the breeze, in familiar sounds.
Reed said, “You’re my special gift from God. You will never leave my heart. I can’t even believe how much I miss you.
