11/18/2004

Associated Press

A man was being held telling authorities he killed a Sedro-Woolley man who disappeared in 1984, Skagit County sheriff's deputies said.

Bail was set at $500,000 for Marcus Anthony Everett, 41, of Mount Vernon, initially arrested for theft in Puyallup, deputy Will Reichardt said.

Detectives in Pierce County called Skagit County on Friday and said Everett had confessed to killing Randy Soderberg, who was 22 when he vanished on July 10, 1984. The means and motive for the killing have not been disclosed.

"Things have not gone right in his life and he attributes that to the mistakes he made 20 years ago," the deputy said.

"He did a terrible thing 20 years ago. He wants to make things as right as they can be," Reichardt said. "He wants to take responsibility for what he did. He is sorry for what he put the family through."

Everett agreed Tuesday to cooperate with Skagit County investigators and was moved north, but as of late Wednesday nothing had been found in a wooded area where he said he hid the body, Reichardt said.

Soderberg left his parents, his recently divorced wife and their three children. The family, some of whom are still in the area, have been notified of Everett's confession, Reichardt said Wednesday.

Soderberg was last seen with another young man who had expressed interest in buying his car, the chief deputy said.

Soderberg's mother called sheriff's deputies two days later to report him missing.

"We did what we could do, but we were never able to get enough evidence to be able to pursue anything," Reichardt said.

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Information from: Skagit Valley Herald, http://www.skagitvalleyherald.com