Detectives believe a Clark County woman reported missing in September is dead, the Clark County Sheriff’s Office said Monday.
Investigators are now searching for Alana Carroll’s remains. Carroll had been staying at various residences in north Clark County around the time she was reported missing, investigators said. Carroll was 32 years old and struggling with substance use disorder, according to the sheriff’s office.
Detectives have identified a suspect in her disappearance who is incarcerated on unrelated charges, sheriff’s office spokeswoman Ashley Korslien said.
The sheriff’s office declined to identify that suspect Monday, but court records show deputies are investigating Luke A. Grant on suspicion of unlawful disposal of human remains. Grant has not been charged in connection with this case. The Clark County Jail roster shows he is in custody in connection with multiple pending criminal cases.
Court records detail a monthslong investigation after Carroll’s grandmother reported her missing in September. Her grandmother had contact with several of Carroll’s friends, who led detectives to a property outside of Battle Ground where she’d been seen before her disappearance. Investigators interviewed several people at the property who saw Carroll around that time, and some said they last saw Carroll leave with Grant, according to a search warrant affidavit filed in Clark County Superior Court.
Earlier this year, detectives interviewed a woman who said Grant called her in a panic because he believed a woman he was with was dead. She said Grant didn’t tell her the woman’s name, but he allegedly told her they’d been using drugs, and when he woke up, she was dead. He also allegedly told her the woman’s body was in the trunk of his car, the affidavit states.
Deputies obtained phone records, which showed the conversation between Grant and the woman likely happened in late August 2023, according to court records.
Another one of Grant’s friends said Grant and Carroll knew each other through the drug scene, the affidavit states. He said Grant brought his car over to his house and asked for some paint to paint his car. Detectives later learned Grant’s Honda Accord was towed to a crushing yard in October and then taken to a recycler to be shredded, according to court records.
When detectives contacted Grant, they said he declined to speak with them until he got an attorney, the affidavit states.
