Cops in Washington state are hunting for a man who reportedly strangled a woman before anonymously posting pictures of her dead body online and fleeing the scene.
A relative found the remains of the woman believed to be in her 30s Tuesday afternoon inside a South Kitsap apartment, just 30 minutes after the graphic photos went up on the popular Internet forum site 4Chan.
'Turns out it's way harder to strangle someone to death than it looks in the movies,' the poster first wrote around 2:54 p.m., alongside photos of a naked woman, apparently dead with red marks around her neck.
After other users questioned the authenticity of the gory pics, the poster urged others to 'check the news for Port Orchard Washington in a few hours.'
'Her son will be home from school soon,' the user wrote. 'He'll find her, then call the cops. I just wanted to share the pics before they find me. I bought a BB gun that looks realistic enough. When they come, I'll pull it and it will be suicide by cop. I understand the doubts. Just check the f-----g news. I have to lose my phone now.'
Cops received a call about a dead body at the South Park Greens apartments around 3:30 p.m. and are searching for the woman's gold 2011 four-door Ford Focus, with a Washington license plate of 495-YlY, KING-TV reported.
'We do not believe this is a random assault,' Deputy Scott Wilson told the outlet. 'We believe this person was targeted by a yet-to-be determined other person.'
Police have yet to confirm whether the photos are actually the victim, but are investigating, Wilson said. The user reportedly tweeted links to the photos and contacted local newspapers like the Kitsap Sun and Port Orchard Independent.
The area is on the west side of Puget Sound, across from Seattle.
'Any time we have images of this graphic nature that are posted online and perpetuate to be this crime scene we are going to take those seriously, but we're unable to confirm whether those photographs are of this victim,' Wilson told the NBC affiliate.
4Chan, a site similar to reddit, made waves in September after leaked nude celebrity photos were posted to the forum.
The site, where almost any topic or photo goes, has since deleted the photos of the body, but users continue to circulate the photos in other ways.
sgoldstein@nydailynews.com
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