KITTITAS COUNTY — Prosecutors have filed murder and robbery charges against a 40-year-old man in the 2020 death of Ian Eckles, a Kent hunter who disappeared in the Liberty area of Kittitas County six years ago.
The Kittitas County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office filed charges Wednesday against Jorge Alcantara Gonzalez, according to the Kittitas County Sheriff’s Office. Alcantara is charged with first-degree murder and first-degree robbery in Eckles’ death.
Eckles traveled to the Liberty area on the night of May 16, 2020. His friends and family reported him missing two days later, on May 18, prompting the Kittitas County Sheriff’s Office to open an investigation.
That investigation soon led deputies, along with Eckles’ friends and family, to the Mineral Springs area. On May 23, 2020, Eckles’ vehicle was found hidden in thick brush off a remote Forest Service road.
As deputies approached the vehicle, a man later identified as Alcantara appeared and fled into the surrounding forest, according to the sheriff’s office.
Investigators later searched Eckles’ vehicle and found evidence consistent with a violent encounter, including multiple gunshots.
The discovery launched a 23-day manhunt involving local, state and federal law enforcement agencies. Thousands of acres of public wildlands were closed during the search.
Alcantara was arrested June 14, 2020, while burglarizing a home in the nearby Teanaway Valley.
He later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to prison for taking or possessing two stolen vehicles, including Eckles’ vehicle, as well as multiple burglaries and thefts of firearms.
The sheriff’s office said the investigation into Eckles’ disappearance and death continued in the years that followed. As weather and terrain conditions allowed, law enforcement officers and trained Search and Rescue volunteers returned to the mountainous area where investigators believe the fatal encounter occurred.
More than 100 targeted searches have been conducted, but Eckles’ remains have not been found.
The sheriff’s office said Alcantara’s prison sentence is now nearing its end. In light of his impending release from Department of Corrections custody, KCSO detectives forwarded the extensive case investigation to the Kittitas County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office for review.
Prosecutors have now filed the case in Kittitas County Superior Court. Alcantara will be transferred to the Kittitas County Jail to await court proceedings.
“Ian Eckles has never been forgotten by his family, by this office, or by the community that searched for him and followed this case,” Sheriff Clay Myers said. “We are grateful to the prosecutors who have taken on the difficult work of bringing this case before the court, and we remain committed to supporting that process.”
The sheriff’s office emphasized that the filing of charges does not end the case, but begins the court process. Prosecutors will now be required to prove the charges in court.