Detectives searching for 2010 Audi A5 used in homicide near Auburn

KING COUNTY - Detectives with the King County Sheriff's Office Major Crimes Unit are asking for the public's help in locating a 2010 Audi A5 that is believed to have been used in a November 2021 homicide near Auburn. 

"Oftentimes, we’re looking for DNA or evidence as small as a human hair. Our evidence, in this case, is a nearly 4,000-pound German car and when we can find that, we know we’re going to be able to tell the complete story and give the victim and the community the closure they deserve," said Sgt. Tim Meyer with the King County Sheriff's Office. 

Investigators suspect the car with WA license BTR5576 and VIN WAULFAFR8AA047826 may have bullet holes and it might be in south King County or elsewhere in the Puget Sound area.   

The Audi has been missing since a passerby found 39-year-old Uso Hale dead in the road near Auburn on Nov. 11, 2021. 

Detectives say 24-year-old Robert Nelson III was driving the Audi with Hale in the passenger seat when he shot Hale seven times in the parking lot of a gas station. One of the bullets struck the window of the gas station. 

According to court documents, Nelson then fled the parking lot and dumped Hale's body in a ditch a few minutes later. Neither the .45 caliber gun used nor the Audi have been recovered. 

"It’s hidden some place. Somebody spotted it. Maybe it’s been dumped in a parking lot and you’ve seen it and it’s that car that’s just been sitting on the roadside.  Help us find it because we know when we find it, there’s going to be evidence inside that’s going to tell that last chapter," said Meyer. 

Nelson was arrested and charged with first-degree murder.  His bail was set at $2,000,000 but later reduced to $750,000.  He was released from jail on Dec. 29, 2021 on bail and is currently on electronic home monitoring.

If you have any information on the whereabouts of the Audi, please call the King County Sheriff's Office non-emergency number (206/296-3311) or visit Crime Stoppers of Puget Sound at P3Tips.com or use the P3Tips app on your mobile device. 

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