A person was found dead Sunday afternoon near the entrance to the I-5 express lanes from Seneca Street in Seattle, and Washington State Patrol detectives are now asking anyone who saw something in the area to come forward. A 911 caller first reported around 1:30 p.m. that someone appeared to be sleeping in the grass near the ramp, but troopers who responded found the person unconscious and without a pulse.
Troopers started CPR on scene but determined the person was already dead, according to KOMO News. As reported by MyNorthwest, Washington State Patrol communications received the 911 call reporting a person who appeared to be sleeping in the grass near the express-lane entrance from Seneca that Sunday.
The King County Medical Examiner's Office believes the person died as a result of a fall off the overpass, per the same KOMO account. Investigators have not ruled out the possibility that the person was also struck by a vehicle on the roadway after falling, a detail state patrol detectives raised even as the medical examiner's office attributed the death to the fall itself.
Detectives Widen the Search for Witnesses
Washington State Patrol detectives are seeking the public's help investigating the death, focusing on anyone who may have observed activity in the area during an investigation window that ran from Saturday, August 22, into Sunday, August 23. Detective Ford, identified as a Washington State Patrol detective, is asking anyone with information to email [email protected].
The Seneca Street entrance sits at the downtown southern gateway of Seattle's 7.14-mile reversible I-5 express lane system, where the freeway runs beneath downtown bridges and the cut-and-cover lids of Central Freeway Park, according to AARoads. Seneca Street itself carries westbound arterial traffic from First Hill into the city's central business district, threading directly above the freeway lanes below.
A Familiar and Troubling Pattern Downtown
This is not the first time a fall from a downtown Seattle overpass onto I-5 has turned deadly near this stretch of freeway. In April 2024, a 21-year-old woman died after falling from the Madison Street overpass onto southbound I-5 just south of Seneca Street, where she was then struck by a vehicle that fled the scene, as Hoodline previously reported. That earlier case prompted a three-hour freeway shutdown while troopers searched for hit-and-run evidence, underscoring how the same tension between fall trauma and vehicle strikes has now resurfaced along this exact downtown corridor.
The area has also seen recent infrastructure work. In November 2024, the Washington State Department of Transportation completed a $37.6 million mobility improvement project along northbound I-5 near Seneca Street, moving concrete barriers and restriping lanes to eliminate a persistent bottleneck, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation. That project also added ramp meters and extended active traffic management systems north toward SR 520.
Part of a Broader Statewide Safety Concern
Preliminary state traffic data show 659 traffic fatalities across Washington in 2025, including 160 pedestrian and bicyclist deaths, marking a 10% decline from 2024 but still well above pre-pandemic levels, per the Renton Reporter. Washington traffic deaths had previously reached a 33-year high of 809 in 2023. The Washington Traffic Safety Commission has separately noted that a majority of statewide pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities occur on or near the Interstate 5 corridor, pointing to high traffic speeds on urban freeways as a principal factor.
Nationally, freeway pedestrian deaths remain a persistent problem despite legal prohibitions on foot traffic along limited-access highways. Research from the Governors Highway Safety Association indicates that 17.6% of all U.S. pedestrian traffic fatalities occur on interstates and freeways, even though non-motorized pedestrian traffic is not legally allowed there.
Who Investigates Freeway Deaths in Washington
Under state law, the Washington State Patrol holds primary independent law enforcement and investigative jurisdiction over all limited-access state highways and interstate freeways in King County, with local municipal agencies typically stepping in only for secondary support when requested. County medical examiners and coroners are separately required under state law to submit monthly written reports to the chief of the Washington State Patrol detailing deaths in their jurisdiction tied to motor vehicle incidents, reports due by the tenth day of each month.
That legal framework is now guiding the investigation into Sunday's death near the Seneca Street ramp, as detectives work to determine exactly how the person ended up on the grass near the express lanes entrance and whether a passing vehicle played any role after the fall. Anyone with information is urged to reach out to detectives as the case remains open.
-4.webp?w=160&h=400&fit=crop&crop=edges)
