A “cold case” saga continues to play out, a three-decades-old story of a missing woman and a husband accused of foul play.

At the center of the tale are former Enumclaw residents Kevin Dale Jokumsen and Donna Mae (maiden name Douglas) Jokumsen, who married before moving to Arizona. Thirty years after Donna Mae Jokumsen went missing, Kevin Jokumsen has been taken into custody and charged with second-degree murder. He was arrested earlier this month, is being held in the King County Jail and awaits extradition to Maricopa County, Arizona.

The following account has been pieced together from numerous sources: the Chandler, Arizona, Police Department, Office of the King County Prosecuting Attorney and media reports from both local and Arizona news outlets.

In 1987 the Jokumsens were living in Chandler, a Phoenix suburb, with their two children, ages 1 and 3. Donna Mae was 22, her husband 23. On July 3 of that year, she called her father in Enumclaw and said she was returning to Washington with the children. Days went by and, when she failed to show up, her mother contacted the Chandler Police Department on July 11. Officers responded to the couple’s residence in Chandler where they found Kevin Jokumsen and the children. He has maintained innocence for 30 years, claiming no knowledge of his wife’s disappearance.

Donna Mae Jokumsen was last seen on July 5, 1987. Her body was never found and charges were never brought. She went into the books as a missing person.

Police at the time learned from friends she claimed to have been abused by her husband and was returning home to escape her husband. There were allegations of domestic violence filed with the Enumclaw Police Department before the couple moved to Arizona.

Fast forward to 2013 when detectives from the Chandler P.D. begin a review of the case, by that time 26 years old. Witnesses from the original investigation were contacted again and new witnesses were interviewed. Details of the investigation have not been revealed, but investigators concluded that Kevin Jokumsen was indeed responsible for his wife’s death.

With information in hand, “Coupled with the fact there is no evidence to suggest Donna Mae is still alive, investigators believe Donna Mae died at the hands of Kevin Jokumsen,” wrote Detective Seth Tyler of the Chandler Police Department.

The case was forwarded this year to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Officer, which indicted Jokumsen on a second-degree murder charge. An arrest warrant was issued.

The tale then jumps to King County, about 1,100 miles away.

On Aug. 31 an Auburn police detective, who was familiar with Jokumsen and knew of the Arizona case, spotted the wanted man in an industrial area of Kent. It has been reported Jokumsen is homeless and had built a lengthy criminal history. Jokumsen was arrested for being a fugitive from justice and was first taken to the SCORE jail in Des Moines before being transferred to the King County jail.