Northern Quest Casino Winner Dies Suspiciously in Washington State, Police Reveal

Posted on: February 25, 2021, 06:37h. 

Last updated on: February 26, 2021, 09:11h.

Ed Silverstein @casinoorgedsilv Read More
Expertise: Legal, Tribal Gaming.

UPDATE: The mother of the Spokane, Wash. woman who was found dead at home says she believes her daughter passed away from natural causes. Jenny A. Jones had a life-long medical condition and the mother believes that’s what caused her death, KREM, a local TV station, reported. Autopsy results are still pending.

Local authorities are scrutinizing the death of a 46-year-old Spokane woman who days earlier won a significant amount of money at Northern Quest Casino.

The autopsy results remain pending
The apartment building on the left is the location where a woman was found dead earlier this month in Spokane, Wash. She had won cash at a local casino. (Image: Maggie Quinlan/The Spokesman-Review)

It is unknown how much money the victim, Jenny A. Jones, had won. Nor was it known what happened to the winnings.

Last week, Jones was discovered face down inside her apartment. The door to the apartment was unlocked. Her lifeless body was in the living room. Blood was found on Jones’ face and on her shirt.

A small knife was next to the body. Police said the death was suspicious and a judge has approved a search warrant for the apartment.

Police Search for Man’s Identity, Location

Cops want to find out the identity of a man who was heard speaking in her apartment, according to The Spokesman-Review, a Spokane newspaper.

Ethan McCracken, a neighbor of Jones in the apartment building, told police Jones told him earlier in the month that a man was refusing to leave the apartment and that she might have to call the police, KHQ, a local TV station, said.

It was her stepfather, Albert Asher, who discovered her body earlier this month. The wellness check by Asher was done after Jones’ mother, Sue Asher, asked her husband to check on Jones.

The daughter failed to answer her phone for two straight days. It was on Feb. 15, two days before her body was discovered, that Jones told her mother over the phone she won a jackpot at the casino.

The phone conversation was cut short after Jones apparently told her mother the cell phone battery needed a charge.

Autopsy Results Pending

The Spokane County Medical Examiner’s office has yet to determine the cause of her death. The inquiry is still “pending,” according to a medical examiner’s online statement.

The Northern Quest Resort & Casino is owned and operated by the Kalispel Tribe. It is located in Airway Heights, which is about nine miles west of Spokane. The tribe is expanding the property with a new 160,000-square-foot hotel tower. The expansion will include 190 additional guest rooms, bringing the casino resort’s total number of rooms to 440.

The casino was shuttered for over a month in 2020 by the COVID-19 pandemic. It was reopened in May with multiple safety precautions in place.