Undersheriff Brad Johansson announced Tuesday evening that the sheriffs department had made an arrest from a kidnapping and rape cold case from 2003 arresting Paul Bieker of Enumclaw.

On 6/15/21 the Grays Harbor Sheriff’s Office arrested Paul Bieker of Enumclaw for a 2003 kidnapping and rape cold case. In March of 2003 the Sheriff’s Office investigated a kidnapping and rape that started on Church Road in McCleary, Washington.  A 17-year-old female was abducted when she returned home to her residence in her vehicle.  The suspect bound the female and loaded her into her own vehicle.  The female was taken to an undisclosed location and sexually assaulted.  After sexually assaulting the female the suspect drove her to a location near McCleary and left her in the vehicle. 

The victim was able to free herself and she returned to her residence where the kidnapping and assault were reported to her father who immediately called 911 to report the crimes.  The victim was taken to a hospital to be examined. Investigators collected evidence at the hospital and a DNA profile was eventually obtained for the suspect in the sexual assault.  Although an exhaustive investigation was conducted, investigators were not been able to identify a suspect.  The suspect’s DNA profile was entered into the nationwide criminal database and it was not linked to a known person in the database.

In 2010 the Grays Harbor Prosecuting Attorney’s Office obtained an arrest warrant for an unknown person, based on the DNA profile developed from the sample obtained from the victim.

In December of 2020, Grays Harbor Sheriff’s Office Chief Darrin Wallace submitted the DNA evidence to a laboratory for genealogy testing.  The testing revealed a short list of possible suspects that were believed to be related to the source of the suspect DNA. Investigators learned that Paul Beiker lived in McCleary in 2003 at a residence not far from the victim’s residence.  They also were able to identify more circumstantial evidence that linked Beiker to the crime.  GHSO Chief Wallace and Det. Sgt. Logan surveilled Beiker and obtained his DNA from a discarded item.  The item with Beiker’s DNA was submitted to the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab for comparison and it was determined that it was a match of the suspect in the 2003 sexual assault.  Beiker was contacted by investigators in McCleary, Washington on 06-15-21 and taken into custody.

The Grays Harbor Sheriff’s Office is still investigating the case.  Due to the nature and circumstances of the crime investigators are also looking into the kidnapping and murder case of Lindsey Baum who went missing on June 26^th, 2009 in the city of McCleary.  Baum’s remains were located in in 2018 in Kittitas County in eastern Washington.  If anyone has any information that may be helpful in either of these cases you can call the Lindsey Baum tip line 360-964-1799 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..