FEDERAL WAY, WA – Concern quickly mounted among friends and family when Grace Carmichael, 69, failed to arrive for work, a routine she rarely missed. That absence set off a series of events that would reveal a tragedy inside a Federal Way home, just south of Seattle, where Grace and her husband, Gregory, 68, were found dead.
Authorities say the couple died after suffering fatal injuries allegedly inflicted by their son, Mick Carmichael, 35. Police believe the parents were killed during a violent altercation inside their home on the 33700 block of 27th Place Southwest sometime between Wednesday and Thursday of last week.
Grace Carmichael’s coworkers alerted law enforcement after she missed a work shift without explanation. Officers responded to the couple’s home Thursday morning, knocking on the door and peering through windows, but initially found no obvious cause for alarm. When there was still no answer, authorities contacted another relative to check on Grace and Gregory personally.
That family member encountered Mick Carmichael leaving the area. Interview records later indicated that Mick told the relative his parents were sleeping and should not be disturbed. Unsettled, the family member went inside and discovered the bodies of both Grace and Gregory. Mick had already left the scene.
For the Carmichaels, the fear of violence at home had been a persistent presence. Public records show numerous protection orders filed by the victims against their son over the past fifteen years. In total, ten restraining orders were issued, covering not only the parents but also five other individuals, across four different cases since 2009.
This is not the first incident in which police were called to the Carmichael residence. Authorities confirm prior arrests and alleged assaults involving Mick Carmichael, including two separate occasions when he reportedly attacked his parents—once in 2015 and again in 2021, when he is accused of strangling his father and injuring his mother during a heated dispute.
After being located by police later Thursday in a nearby park with visible injuries and bloodstains on his clothing, Mick Carmichael was taken into custody. Officers observed dried blood on his hands and multiple cuts and bruises. Authorities say he denied seeing his parents the previous day and claimed to have no memory of how he received his injuries.
Neighbors described Grace and Gregory as quiet, kind, and deeply involved in their community. The Carmichaels’ deaths have left friends and relatives reeling, with many recalling Grace’s reliability and warm presence at her workplace.
Mick Carmichael is currently being held in King County jail on two counts of second-degree murder. The investigation remains ongoing as authorities work to piece together the events that led up to the deaths of Grace and Gregory Carmichael.