From the January 2026 article above, this is the section on Dave Lewis' case.
‘Fish Hook’
A little more than three years prior to the murder of David Grubbs and few miles away, another as-yet-unsolved murder took place. On Sept. 8, 2008, David Lewis, 46, was found dead at his burned-up cabin off Dead Indian Memorial Road, near Hyatt Lake. Investigators said that Lewis had been shot before the cabin was set ablaze. Dubbed a cold case by the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, Lewis’ murder has left his loved ones grappling with frustration over unanswered questions from law enforcement officials despite extensive efforts from his family. Lewis, an avid fisherman who had earned the nickname “Fish Hook” for his uncanny ability to catch a fish wherever he dropped his hook, had built a life for himself in Ashland, according to his sister, Linda Lewis Miller. Lewis Miller said her brother was a “cheery, strong-headed guy,” who grew up with a strong sense of morality and ethics. It wasn’t until after her brother’s marriage ended in 1999 that his life became troubled. Lewis’ divorce was followed by scrapes with law enforcement that included misdemeanor assault and harassment convictions. His life, Lewis Miller said, had become a “Shakespearean tragedy.” In the last two years of his life, Lewis Miller said, new people and new situations came into his life that culminated in his murder. On the night of the homicide, two fires broke out, according to reports. Which, at the time, then-Jackson County Sheriff Mike Winters said, was “suspicious.” Then-Jackson County Fire District No. 5 Chief Dan Marshall was quoted in a local news report that the fire at Lewis’s cabin had “burned undetected for a long time.” By the time firefighters were on scene, the cabin was “on the ground,” according to Marshall. Firefighters soon found Lewis’s charred remains. It took months for authorities to confirm by DNA that the remains were those of Lewis. Nearly two decades later, what exactly happened remains shrouded in mystery. Woodrow Pollock, a sheriff’s office investigator, told a local news station in 2014, six years after Lewis’s murder, investigators could not get more people to comment on Lewis’s death. That, he told reporters, is unusual. The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office referred a request for comment for this story to the district attorney’s office since the case is still open. Meantime, Linda Lewis Miller, who lives in Palmer, Alaska, has been steadfast in trying to get answers about her brother’s murder. However, she said, authorities have balked, citing that the investigation remains open and that releasing such records could hinder it. In 2023, the Oregon State Medical Examiner’s office declined the family’s requests for Lewis’s autopsy report. According to Lewis Miller, then-Jackson County District Attorney Beth Heckert said that releasing the record would harm the investigation. In a Wednesday, Dec. 31 email, Patrick Green, the county’s current district attorney, said that he would also not release the records. It can become “extremely challenging” when a murder can’t be solved quickly, Green said. Nonetheless, the county does not give up on cold cases, he said. Green said work is still going on with Lewis’ case, and other unsolved homicides. He would not provide answers to any specific questions, including the number of detectives working the case, and when the last significant development occurred, in order, he said, to protect the integrity of the case. “I recognize that as the years continue to go by with this case unsolved, the family continues to be deprived of closure and justice for Mr. Lewis’ death,” Green said. “That is why we do not give up on these cases. It will continued to be worked as leads are developed and we will continue to have discussions of what we can do to try to move the investigation forward and get the break we need.” Nonetheless, the circumstances surrounding Lewis’s murder raise disturbing questions, Lewis Miller said. According to Lewis Miller, her brother was embroiled in a dispute with area property owners over what he believed was an illegal development on federal public land. She said there were alleged threats made on Lewis’s life. Shortly after a heated altercation, she said, her brother was murdered. She said there have also been rumors that the case could be linked to organized crime, including possible cartel involvement, which might underscore dangerous undercurrents within rural Oregon. While Lewis Miller is grateful for the work detectives have done on the case, she has been critical of those in charge of the investigation, particularly former Jackson County Sheriff Mike Winters, who was in office at the time of Lewis’s murder. Lewis Miller said Winters had known her brother for many years and was living near her brother on Dead Indian Memorial Road at the time of the murder. Winters, she said, had a conflict of interest and should have recused himself from the investigation and had the Oregon State Police take it over. He didn’t, according to Lewis Miller. Winters, in a Tuesday, Dec. 23, phone interview, said he followed standard protocol in the investigation. He said a multi-agency task force worked the case, including a cold case detective with the sheriff’s office and a retired FBI agent. He said that he owned property nearby and that he and Lewis were acquaintances. He said he was not aware they went to school together. “There was no reason whatsoever, no conflict of interest, no reason to recuse myself or our agency,” he said. The case, he said, was worked by high-level detectives. He said he hopes the current sheriff and his team can solve the case and bring closure to the family. Lewis Miller reiterated that the current sheriff’s office has been “fabulous.” Still, she said, her brother’s case has not been solved. “It went cold,” she said. “I think the word they told me was ‘frigid cold.’”
Read more at:
Unsolved 2025 Ashland murder leads to trail of other cold cases | Rogue Valley Times
and Woody Pollock, detectives cold cases) took over; they did return to an out building #18196. The same rug was still there. It was supposedly several investigators. The owners also had a camera…but nothing was revealed as far as we know. 
