No new info in suspicious death

HAUSER LAKE - The Kootenai County Sheriff's Office on Friday, citing an active investigation, did not release the identity of the woman found partially submerged in a slough near Hauser Lake on Thursday.

The KCSO deemed the death suspicious soon after deputies responded to the scene on the west side of Hauser Lake Road and the northwest side of the lake about a mile past Hauser City Hall.

KCSO Lt. Stu Miller said detectives released no new information on the case on Friday.

The Hauser Lake Fire Department responded to the scene, as the discovery of the body by a passerby was originally reported as a drowning.

"We immediately turned it over to law enforcement due to the suspicious circumstances," said Larry Simms, Hauser Lake's fire chief.

Simms declined to comment on what those circumstances were, adding that the KCSO is investigating the case.

Simms declined to speculate on an approximate age of the woman based on her being partially submerged.

"It wasn't a child and it wasn't an elderly person," he said.

Kootenai County Prosecutor Barry McHugh, who responded to the scene on Thursday, referred questions seeking comment to the KCSO.