Suicide Message Adds To Mystery -- Note Arrives From Key Suspect As Detectives Seek Leads To Theft, Missing Housekeeper

An ex-Marine from Virginia, wanted by police for questioning in the disappearance of a wealthy Seattle family's housekeeper, sent a suicide note and all of his identification papers to a detective last week - one day after he was supposed to show up in court, and just as police were beginning to suspect him of foul play in the housekeeper's disappearance.

That bizarre twist was revealed yesterday when King County prosecutors asked a court to order $100,000 bail for the man, 30-year-old John Michael Fletcher, who is still at large.

Also missing is Arlana Adams, who worked as a housekeeper for James Pigott and his Madison Park family for four years. Pigott is a member of the long-time Seattle family that founded the Bellevue-based Paccar Inc., builder of a line of Kenworth trucks.

Authorities yesterday said that while they had connected Fletcher to the apparent theft of thousands of dollars in gold coins, cash and jewelry from the Pigott home, what remained uncertain was the role, if any, Adams played in the theft and, more important, her fate.

According to police and prosecutors, the sinister affair began earlier this year when Adams met Fletcher, who had been employed as a driver by the Jay Jacobs Co.

During the summer, while Adams dated Fletcher, James Pigott's daughter-in-law, Dina Pigott, stored a box filled with cash, coins and jewelry in her father-in-law's bedroom. Dina Pigott told police Arlana Adams helped her store the box, which held contents valued at approximately $70,000.

On Aug. 17, James Pigott left on vacation, locking the house and setting the burglar alarm. Only Pigott's immediate family and the housekeeper knew the combination to the alarm, according to police.

Three weeks later, Dina Pigott discovered the box was missing. No sign was found of forced entry into the house, and Dina Pigott suspected that Adams somehow had been involved with the theft, police said.

Meanwhile, police discovered that Adams had been reported missing to Tukwila police earlier in the month by Fletcher and by Adams' teen-age son, Shawn Foley.

On Monday, Sept. 10, Police tracked Fletcher to a Tukwila motel room. Also present was Shawn Foley, who told police that Fletcher had been telling numerous and changing stories about his mother's whereabouts. He had not

seen his mother for 10 days, Foley said.

At that point, various stories came forth from Fletcher and Foley, according to the authorities.

Foley - said to be increasingly worried about his mother and living an uneasy existence with Fletcher at the motel - told police he had seen Fletcher with a large coin collection in mid-August.

Late in August, just before his mother vanished, Foley said, he had gone with Fletcher and Adams to Bayside Toyota, where a car salesman accepted about $23,000 in cash for a new truck. He said Fletcher insisted that the title be put in Adams' name. Fletcher said he had to keep his name off the paperwork, Foley told detectives, because he worked for the government.

Foley also told police that Fletcher kept three private storage lockers in downtown Seattle.

Meanwhile, Fletcher offered his own, sometimes conflicting version of events.

About Adams' whereabouts, Fletcher told police that she had gone to San Francisco to see about the family dog.

However, police soon discovered that the people Fletcher said Adams intended to visit in San Francisco hadn't seen her. Fletcher then said he had married Adams six weeks earlier in Las Vegas, but no proof of the marriage could be found.

Late that day, police arrested Fletcher and booked him for investigation of possession of stolen property.

The following day, Fletcher was released from King County Jail after promising to return to court Sept. 13. About the time Fletcher was walking away, Seattle police were searching the storage lockers, the Tukwila motel room and two cars.

In searching a car belonging to Adams, police found Adams' purse, containing all of her identification. Also found were a day pack with several pictures of Adams as well as two receipts, dated Aug. 29 and 30, for the sale of gold and coins for $20,500 cash.

The buyer, a Bellevue coin dealer, picked Fletcher's photo out of a picture montage, according to police.

Meanwhile, Fletcher met with Tukwila detectives investigating the housekeeper's disappearance. Fletcher told the detectives that Adams ``was really stressed out after she ripped off the Pigotts.''

Fletcher told police that Adams had stolen the gold from the Pigotts and that he had converted it into cash, adding that no one could prove it wasn't his own gold.

And, Fletcher said, if authorities intended to charge him formally, they needed to set a high bail: ``because I can post,'' he said, according to police.

Two days later, Fletcher failed to show up for his hearing. The following day, Seattle police identified the coins sold by Fletcher as those belonging to the Pigotts.

In a background check, police discovered that Fletcher had left the Marines in 1988 while facing a court-martial, that he has owned numerous weapons, and that a former landlord found a book Fletcher once left behind on changing identify.

A former girlfriend told investigators that Fletcher had told her that his ``wife'' had been strangled and shot.

Then, on the day after he was supposed to show up in court, a Tukwila detective received a suicide note from Fletcher and all of his identification cards.

Fletcher's current name and whereabouts are unknown, according to police.