By Pat Jenkins The Dispatch The family and friends of a missing woman thought she was dead after authorities confused her with another woman who died after being hit by a truck in Spanaway. Pierce County medical examiner Thomas Clark issued a public apology after his staff erroneously identified the accident victim as Samantha Kennedy, who was reported missing by a friend. Officials later recanted that ID and said the victim actually was Jade Nicole Aubrey-Peterson, 25, a county resident. Peterson was struck by a pickup truck March 14 while she was crossing State Route 7 near 211th Street Court East, the State Patrol reported. She was taken to Tacoma General Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. According to Clark, no forms of identification of Aubrey-Peterson were found with her body after the accident. The hospital reported the death to the medical examiner's office and also told officials there that a man had told the hospital about Kennedy, including that she had a "distinctive tattoo." "Through a misunderstanding involving several members of our staff," it was believed that a tattoo described by the hospital "belonged to the missing person, but it actually was a description of the tattoo on the body," Clark said. The medical examiner then officially, but mistakenly, identified the victim as Samantha Kennedy and made that information public, he explained. The mistake was realized March 19, five days after the death, and the medical examiner corrected the identity to Aubrey-Peterson. Kennedy's mother reportedly told authorities the body wasn't her daughter's after seeing it at a funeral home where it was being prepared for burial. Clark said Kennedy's family "is concerned" and was continuing its search for her. He offered condolences to the families of both women and said his staff "will adjust our practices" as a result of the mistaken identity. Clark said it isn't "uncommon" for bodies to arrive at the medical examiner's office without identification. He said "scientific methods" for identifying them include fingerprints, DNA and dental records, but they aren't used unless necessary "because they are time-consuming, expensive and create delays that are burdensome on families." Most of the time, he said, identification can be resolved by family members' identification of "distinctive" body features, such as tattoos. According to the State Patrol, Aubrey-Peterson was in a northbound lane of the highway when she was struck by the truck driven by a 28-year-old man. Charges haven't been filed against the driver.
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