Northern Quest Casino Ticket May Offer Clues in Washington State Mysterious Death

Posted on: February 18, 2022, 08:49h. 

Last updated on: February 18, 2022, 09:20h.

Ed Silverstein @casinoorgedsilv Read More

Expertise: Legal, Tribal Gaming.

A Northern Quest Resort & Casino 25-cent cash-out ticket may help investigators explain the death of a woman found earlier this month along Washington State railroad tracks. Her corpse was discovered on Feb. 5, less than 12 hours after she was at that gaming property.

A Burlington Northern Santa Fe conductor first spotted Ashley Martinez’s body. It was taken for an autopsy.

Autopsy Reveals No Trauma, But Drugs Detected

The autopsy revealed there were no signs of trauma. But the cause and manner of death are still listed as pending as of Friday.

The local medical examiner’s office also reported that Martinez tested positive for alcohol, methamphetamine, amphetamine, fentanyl, and carfentanil in her system, according to KREM, a local TV station, reporting on Thursday.

The body and jeans were found south of Riverside State Park. It is located in Nine Mile Falls, about 10 miles north of the gaming property. The park is about 12 miles northeast of Spokane.

Near the body was Martinez’s 2006 Chrysler 300. Police have yet to explain evidence they found on the car. Two sets of keys were on the trunk, KREM said. A black coat was found on the car’s hood, the report adds. A spare tire jack was in the snow nearby. Passenger tires were damaged, police said.

Two Mysterious Men

Based on the ticket, investigators went to the casino and were able to review surveillance video. It was revealed that Martinez drove to Northern Quest at about 4 am on Feb. 5. An unnamed man was with her at the time. Martinez made an ATM withdrawal at the casino. She gave the money to an unnamed second man.

They both sat down in the car. The first man later walked to the car and sat in the back seat. He later sat in the driver’s seat. The second man who had been in the front passenger seat left the car.

At 5:44 am, the first man drove the car from the parking lot. Martinez appears to have used her cell phone between the time the car left the casino and when her body was at the railroad tracks. Questions remain about what happened before she died, KREM said.

Prior Meth Death

In an unrelated incident, it was revealed last June that a Spokane, Wash., woman died from a methamphetamine overdose, a local medical examiner has ruled. A few days before her death in February 2021, she won a jackpot at the Northern Quest Casino.

She later was found in her apartment. The Spokane County Medical Examiner said the passing of Jenny Jones, 46, was accidental, according to local media reports.