Wyoming officials have released a picture of a woman whose nude body was found along I-80 March 1 with the hope the photo will generate leads in the unsolved murder.
No other leads have panned out since the body was found 31/2 months ago. But Sweetwater County sheriff's Commander Dick Blust said investigators have not been able to rule out many possibilities. "At this point we just have to keep our options open."Sheriff's officials hope the photograph will be seen by someone who can identify the woman. They then hope information about the woman will lead them to her killer.
Authorities say the Hispanic woman had dark brown hair and dark eyes, was 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighed 125 to 130 pounds and was between 24 and 32 years old. She had a tattoo of a rose on her right breast and a Cesarean scar. She was wearing a gold-colored ring on the ring finger of her left hand and a gold-colored necklace.
The case shows similarities to several unsolved murders in Utah, but the woman's body could just as easily have been dumped by a motorist traveling between New York and San Francisco, Blust said.
There are also distinct differences between this case and others. For instance, it is unlikely that this death is the work of a serial killer since most other victims in unsolved cases where a body is dumped near a highway were either strangled or had their throats cut, Blust said. The Sweetwater County case is dissimilar and more bizarre: the victim was
killed with a sharp object, such as an ice pick, that was jabbed into her brain through her left nostril.
"We have yet to find a single other instance of that cause of death in the country," Blust said.
The manner in which the woman died has attracted the attention of investigators in surrounding states.
The body was found 40 miles east of Rock Springs alongside the busiest east-west freeway in the country, Blust said. Authorities believe the woman's body was left along the interstate sometime between mid-October 1991 and the end of February.
Anyone with information about the woman's identity should contact local law enforcement authorities or the Sweetwater County Sheriff's Office in Green River, Wyo., at (307) 875-2331. Information can also be sent in writing to the Sweetwater County Sheriff's Office, P.O. Box 39, Green River, Wyo. 82935.