Body of kidnapped Washington budtender found

Published: Sep 18, 2017, 9:50 am • Updated: Sep 18, 2017, 9:50 am

By The Associated Press

SPOKANE, Wash. — Police say the body of a Cheney marijuana shop employee was found days after he was kidnapped outside of work.

The Spokesman-Review reports that Spokane County Rescue found Cameron Smith’s body Friday afternoon off state Route 904 near Four Lakes. Police say his body was concealed in “heavy cover” several feet from the road.

Authorities say the 46-year-old worker was abducted from the parking lot of Lucid Marijuana in Cheney on Sept. 10 as he was eating lunch in his car.

Police say 36-year-old Donovan Culps and his niece Violetta Culps kidnapped Smith when they were refused service inside the store because they didn’t have identification.

Culps was arrested in Goldendale Thursday. He is being held in the Spokane County Jail on $1 million bail on armed robbery and kidnapping charges. His niece remains at large.

Topics: dispensary death, employee, Washington state