A long-standing waterfront memorial at Luna/Anchor Park at Duwamish Head vanished this week, after Seattle Parks & Recreation cleared away flowers, photos and other tributes that had marked the 2020 killings of Jessica Lewis and Austin Wenner for more than five years. Staff say the items were gathered carefully and moved into secure storage as part of routine shoreline cleanup at Alki.
According to the department, relatives of the victims have been contacted and plan to pick up the memorial pieces. The family has also started talking with Parks about creating a new tribute that would go through the city’s permitting process rather than growing informally on the edge of the beach.
What Seattle Parks Said
In an email response to questions from the West Seattle Blog, Seattle Parks and Recreation said staff removed the memorial items “as part of site maintenance and cleanup” at Luna/Anchor Park.
All of the materials “were carefully collected and are being securely stored,” department spokesperson Christina Hirsch said. Parks officials told the outlet they have been in touch with the victims’ family, who “has expressed interest in working with SPR to explore new, permitted ways to honor the family member moving forward.”
The Case Behind The Memorial
The memorial had honored Jessica Lewis and Austin Wenner, whose remains were discovered stuffed in suitcases along Alki Beach and near Duwamish Head in June 2020. As reported by The Seattle Times, their landlord, Michael Lee Dudley, was later convicted of murder and in April 2023 was sentenced to more than 46 years in prison.
The grim case dominated local headlines for months and left a lasting emotional mark on the Alki waterfront, where the makeshift memorial quietly stood as a reminder of the couple and of the violence that took their lives.
Volunteers And Shoreline Stewards
Along this stretch of shoreline, the city is not the only one keeping an eye on what builds up at the water’s edge. Local volunteers with the cleanup group A Cleaner Alki hold regular events along Alki and say they coordinate with Seattle Parks and the Seattle Parks Foundation on beach care.
The group’s public calendar lists recurring block drops and group cleanups that include work around Duwamish Head and nearby Alki Beach. Neighborhood volunteers and Parks staff often tag-team maintenance and basic stewardship along the waterfront, a rhythm of raking, hauling and trash pickup that can sometimes collide with long-standing informal memorials.
What Comes Next
According to West Seattle Blog, Seattle Parks says the collected items remain in secure storage while it continues to talk with the family about next steps. Relatives intend to retrieve the memorial materials, and early conversations have touched on the idea of a new, permitted tribute created in coordination with the department.
Parks has not offered a timeline for any possible sanctioned memorial and has only said that staff will work with the family as they weigh options. For now, the stretch of Luna/Anchor Park where the memorial once stood is bare, while the flowers, photos and mementos sit out of public view, waiting for whatever form the next tribute might take.
