A family statement and investigators’ timeline show how a rural home became the center of a widening circle of loss.
FOREST GROVE, Ore. — Three generations of one family, a close friend and that friend’s partner were the five people killed at a rural Oregon property in August, a case that authorities say grew out of violence inside an intimate relationship and drew each new victim to the scene out of concern for someone already there.
The dead were Mary Elizabeth Kimsey, 85; her daughter, Rowan Karla Kimsey, 60; Rowan’s daughter, Stella Jade Kimsey, 26; Stella’s best friend, Linsey Mae Haraldsen, 26; and Haraldsen’s partner, Alvin Raymond Chu, 27. The relationships among them have become central to understanding how investigators believe the night unfolded. Benjamin Charles Parker, 36, Stella’s boyfriend and a resident of the property, was identified as the suspect. He was found dead in Washington state the following day, leaving detectives to finish the case without an arrest or trial.
Before investigators released the full sequence, the Kimsey family described the people behind the names. Mary was remembered as a family matriarch with strong ties to community and nature. Rowan was described as a talented artist and tattoo artist who mentored other artists in the Pacific Northwest. Stella, relatives said, loved farm life and was happiest living on the land. The family said Haraldsen was not simply Stella’s friend but had long been woven into the family. Chu’s relatives asked that his photograph not be released, and his and Haraldsen’s families requested privacy from news organizations.
The property where the five died was a 15-acre farm on Northwest Otis Lane in unincorporated Washington County, west of Forest Grove. Rowan owned the land and lived there, while Stella and Parker lived together in the main home, according to the sheriff’s office. The setting included several buildings, outbuildings, domestic animals and livestock. That physical spread later complicated the work of deputies and forensic teams, but before the property became a crime scene it was also the place where Stella had built the farm life her family said she valued.
Investigators say concern began to spread through the family and friendship network after Stella and Parker argued late Aug. 20 or early Aug. 21. Mary told a friend by text that the dispute had been serious and that Stella had told Parker he needed to leave, according to detectives. Later Friday, Haraldsen was speaking with Stella by phone when the connection ended. When Stella could not be reached again, Haraldsen called Rowan. Rowan said she would go check on her daughter and report back. She never did, investigators said.
That silence pulled more people toward the property. Haraldsen drove there after Rowan failed to call back. Mary, still communicating with an out-of-state friend, became worried when she could no longer reach Stella, Rowan or Haraldsen. Detectives said Mary then picked up Chu, Haraldsen’s partner, and they traveled to the farm together. Authorities believe the victims arrived in that order because each was trying to find or check on someone who had stopped responding. The sequence, reconstructed through messages, phone records and physical evidence, is one reason officials have described the killings as an extension of domestic violence rather than a random attack.
Detectives believe Stella was killed first, followed by Rowan and then Haraldsen. Mary and Chu arrived together and were killed later. Investigators said all five were shot with a .22-caliber firearm and that several had been shot more than once. Officials have not released complete autopsy reports to the public. They have also avoided giving a definitive motive beyond saying the violence followed the dispute between Stella and Parker and that Parker later reportedly told his mother he had planned killings in advance. Because Parker died before he could be questioned or charged, some questions about intent may never receive a courtroom-tested answer.
The first people to discover what had happened were not relatives or detectives but firefighters. Shortly after 5 a.m. Aug. 22, a neighbor reported flames near the property. Forest Grove Fire & Rescue responded believing it was dealing with a vehicle fire. As crews worked, they discovered human remains and called for law enforcement. Deputies arrived, secured the area and found the other victims. Investigators later said the five were in or around the driveway near the main home. Separate fires had been set, and authorities said there had also been attempts to burn additional parts of the property.
Animals on the farm were also caught in the violence. The sheriff’s office said two cats and two dogs were found dead and another injured cat was taken to a veterinarian but later euthanized. Detectives said the animals had been shot. Livestock that remained alive were cared for during the investigation and eventually moved to new homes with the family’s approval. In its statement, the Kimsey family said knowing the farm animals had been placed somewhere they could be cared for would have mattered to Mary, Rowan and Stella because of their attachment to animals and the outdoors.
While investigators processed the farm, the search for Parker moved north. Cellphone information showed his device leaving the area early Saturday and later appearing near Enumclaw, Washington. Authorities said he was driving a pickup registered to Rowan. Parker’s mother later told detectives that he had called her Saturday night, admitted responsibility for the killings and said they had been planned, according to the sheriff’s office. Investigators also said he described setting fires and killing the animals. That account came through his mother and investigators; there was no public criminal proceeding in which the reported confession could be challenged.
By Sunday, Washington County detectives were preparing to seek a warrant charging Parker with five counts of first-degree murder and had asked law enforcement agencies in Washington to help find him. Enumclaw police used automated license-plate reader information to locate the pickup behind a Safeway. Officers, who had been told Parker could be armed, eventually approached and found him dead inside the vehicle. Authorities said he appeared to have died by suicide. A small-caliber handgun was recovered, and investigators said testing was needed to determine its full connection to the Oregon scene.
The deaths left the families facing two kinds of unfinished business: grief and an investigation that cannot end in a prosecution. Stella’s sister, Alexis Callen, asked the public to extend compassion to Parker’s family as well, saying they also faced profound loss. Her request stood out amid the release of increasingly detailed evidence about the killings. The sheriff’s office, for its part, said its responsibility remained to establish what happened as precisely as possible, even though the person it identified as the suspect was dead and no longer posed a threat to the public.
Officials have said more than 100 people from numerous agencies contributed to the response and evidence work. The investigation involves the Washington County Major Crimes Team, forensic specialists, the medical examiner, digital investigators and other local, state and federal partners. Sheriff Caprice Massey said the scale and complexity of the scene were unusual in her more than two decades with the agency. Investigators have continued reviewing phone data, firearms evidence, laboratory results and witness information to refine the timeline and determine whether any significant detail remains unexplained.
According to the sheriff’s office, there were no known prior domestic-violence 911 calls involving Stella and Parker and no record that either had obtained a restraining order. Officials have stressed that those records do not establish what may have happened privately. The known timeline begins with a dispute, continues through repeated efforts by loved ones to make contact, and ends with five people dead after coming together at the same rural property. Detectives say the forensic work could take months, and the agency has continued asking anyone with relevant firsthand information about the residents or events leading up to the killings to contact investigators.
Author note: Last updated September 30, 2026.