A jailed man has confessed to a murder that allegedly occurred in April over a heroin deal at a secluded Federal Way park.

On July 13, police detectives searched for the victim’s body in the wooded areas near Palisades Park, 5039 Dash Point Road. Part of the road was closed as police relied on four cadaver dogs and assistance from King County Search and Rescue.

The confession came from Adam Christensen, 21. According to court documents, Christensen was locked up at Clatsop County Jail in Oregon when, on June 5, he told a law enforcement officer that he wanted to talk “about somebody I might have killed.”

Sometime after April 16, Christensen and a drug dealer set up a meeting with the victim to sell heroin. According to documents, the victim was described as a black male who was possibly a member of the Hilltop Crips gang.

The three men were attempting to make a drug deal inside the dealer’s vehicle, which was parked at Palisades Park, located down the road from Dash Point State Park. The victim grabbed the heroin and tried to flee, according to documents. That’s when Christensen claims to have shot the victim once in the chest, then a second time in the back, all while inside the dealer’s vehicle. Christensen fled the vehicle and later phoned the dealer about the victim.

“Christensen was not aware of the victim’s welfare,” the investigation notes, “although believed after shooting him twice that he would not have survived.”

According to documents, the dealer was from Milton and drove a GMC Yukon, but Christensen would not identify who his dealer was.

The alleged murder weapon was a .38 Special revolver, and according to documents, Christensen broke into his father’s home and stole .38 ammunition. His father is an Auburn police officer, and the bullets were kept in a black gun safe that was labeled as the property of the Auburn Police Department. Christensen said he was able to pry open the safe and retrieve the ammo.

Federal Way Police Lt. Tom Robinson told The Mirror that several details from Christensen’s confession have been confirmed. However, no charges have been filed because police have yet to find a body or the vehicle where the shooting allegedly occurred. Very few murder cases involve a conviction without a body and more concrete physical evidence, he said.

“The whole idea is to find the drug dealer who drove the Yukon,” Robinson said, noting that the alleged dealer is believed to be a white male in his early 20s.

Robinson said Palisades Park is a relatively problem-free park. In fact, the police department is holding its annual picnic at the park in August, he said.

“These are drug-dealing criminals,” Robinson told The Mirror about the suspects who are under investigation. “They’re not doing it when you’re there (at the park) with your kids playing.”

Christensen is currently locked up at Kent City Jail on unrelated theft and DUI charges, according to KIRO 7 News. The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Richard Kim at (253) 835-6744.