Police Without Clue In Baffling Murder Of Redmond Woman

BELLEVUE - Mary Ann Pohlreich, a 27-year-old Bellevue Community College student, went out to a Bellevue bar on Friday and never returned.

Bellevue police discovered Pohlreich's nude body Saturday near a restaurant in the Crossroads shopping mall, 10 blocks from the bar. She was identified yesterday with the help of her roommate. Pohlreich had been killed by a blow to the head with a blunt object.

On the night of her death, police say, Pohlreich went to Papagayo's Cantina, a new restaurant and bar at 2239 148th Ave. N.E. in the Overlake area. Police believe she was alone.

Bartenders there said she left her yellow sweater and purse behind. Her black Camaro also was found in the restaurant parking lot.

Pohlreich was a regular customer at the month-old bar and at its predecessor, the Saratoga Trunk. ``She used to go dancing several times a week,'' her roommate said.

The roommate said she had warned Pohlreich not to go dancing alone.

``It shows you can't go dancing with strangers - even in Bellevue,'' she said.

The case has stumped Bellevue detectives, who are asking anyone who might have seen or heard anything that night to report it to police.

``We don't know where the murder took place,'' said police Lt. Steve Bourgette. ``She could have gone on to a subsequent party or restaurant or a number of different things. We're asking for any information - not only about her, but also anybody who heard something out of the ordinary.''

Pohlreich worked for five years for Cooper Vision in Bellevue making contact lenses, her roommate said. The company closed in December and Pohlreich then worked briefly this spring at Delta Marketing doing telemarketing. She recently quit the job to look for something else. She lived in a Redmond apartment with a roommate the past year and a half.

``She was real friendly and she'd talk to anyone,'' said her roommate.

Pohlreich, the oldest of eight children, is the daughter of Edward and Nancy Pohlreich of Ravensdale, in South King County.

The Rev. Stan Hughes, a family spokesman, said Pohlreich was shy when growing up but had reached a point in life where she was opening up and enjoying life. ``She was having fun,'' he said.

Pohlreich frequently visited her parents on weekends and attended church, but her failure to turn up last weekend didn't alarm her parents, Hughes said.

She graduated from Tahoma Christian School in 1981 and had associate business management degrees from Green River and Bellevue community colleges. She also attended Seattle Pacific University and planned to study computer science there.

``She had an exceptional aptitude for math,'' said Hughes, who also was one of her teachers. ``She was a very bright girl.''

He said Pohlreich was very giving, always remembering birthdays and special events.

Said her 23-year-old brother, Eddie, ``Mary was not only a sister, she was a friend.''