Identified! MO - Wright City, Wht/HispFem Torso 813UFMO, 20-45, Jun'04 - Deanna Howland

[Meyahna]

Lol, journalists really are bored. The part about Traycie having a heart was rather amusing though. lmao.

 

[Donjeta]

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/813ufmo.html
* The victim was discovered on June 28, 2004 in Wright City, Missouri
* Estimated Date of Death: within 12 hours of discovery
* Cause of Death: Homicide
* Torso only

Vital Statistics

* Estimated age: 20 - 45 years old
* Approximate Height and Weight: 5' 0" - 5' 6"; 115 - 145 lbs
* Distinguishing Characteristics: She is possibly White, Hispanic or Biracial. Dark pubic hair. There were no evident tan lines, freckles, moles or birthmarks.
There were two scars on her torso, a Cesarean section scar and one appendectomy scar. Vertical stretch marks from a probably prior pregnancy were visible. The scars and stretch marks were not noticeable in photos taken after she was discovered. She had a kidney infection and scarring of the ovaries.
The victim appeared to be in shape, athletic wise, as there was little or no body fat evident. Her muscles were defined, but not bulky.
* Dentals: Not available
* Clothing: Black in color, "LEI" brand bra, size 36B. The victim was nearly flat-chested, and the 36B bra was too large for her. No other clothing was found.
* Fingerprints: Not available.
* DNA: Available in FBI NMPDD

Case History
A female torso was located on June 27, 2004 by a work crew trimming bushes at the I-70 (westbound) rest area near the 199 mile marker in Wright City, about 50 miles from St. Louis, MO.

The rest area is the first Missouri rest area on the west bound side from Illinois. There is a back entrance to the rest area that is secured by a gate, which is often left open, and was probably left open on the night of this occurrence. The back gate is accessible from the north service road.

The area in which the victim was found is a remote area of the rest stop, along a circle drive which is primarily used as a picnic area and is accessible to cars, vans and smaller trucks. It is unlikely that an over-the-road type vehicle would use this area due to limited access, although it is remotely possible.
The victims body was found approximately 10' from the edge of the pavement, down a slight hill. It appears as though the suspect(s) drove to the area, removed the victim from a vehicle and simply discarded her remains by throwing her down this hillside. The victim was not murdered at this location.

It is estimated that her remains were discovered within 12 hours from the time she was discarded, probably sometime after 21.00 on Sunday, June 27, 2004.
There is very little evidence of decomposition, therefore it is estimated that she was killed no more than just hours before being dumped at this location. It is probable that she was killed at a location not far from the scene of recovery - maybe no more than 50 to 100 miles.
Her head, arms and legs were removed and have not been recovered.

 

[Snufamonbobball]

I've always wondered if this case is related to the FBI's serial killings initiative.
http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2009/april/highwayserial_040609

 

[ValerieKay]

I was just thinking about this case...so sad they haven't identified her yet.
Wright City is where I grew up; I lived about 2 1/2 miles from the rest stop, my parents still live there. I was 16 when this happened and I remember being very frightened.
I still think about her when I drive past the rest stop. The gate on the north service road was/is almost always open...
I hope this woman gets a name someday soon.

 

[jodierenee]

bumping for this Jane Doe. Here is her NAMUS link

https://identifyus.org/cases/full_report/72

 

[jodierenee]

possibilities:

Zelma Ortiz, 5'0, 110lbs. Age (when missing): 29, Date Last Known: June 14, 2004 in New Haven, CT. Was a crack addict so that could help explain the lack of body fat on Jane Doe.

https://www.findthemissing.org/cases/show/3382

Danielyelle White, 4'11, ~100lbs Age (when missing): 24, Date Last Known: May 21, 2004 in Kileen, TX. Danielyelle was also a known drug user and had a history of mental illness.

https://www.findthemissing.org/cases/4357/4/

 

[WCMOgal]

I often think about this unknown female and hope by some miracle they will figure out who she is someday. It is so sad how the family and friends of this female still don't have closure since LE doesn't know who she is and can't notify the appropriate kin. I drive by this area a lot as I live not too far away and think about her every time I drive by the rest stop.

 

[CherBearSTL]

Has April Pitzer ever been considered? The dates are exactly right. charleyproject.org/cases/p/pitzer_april.html

She had kids and a scar on her left side. There are no ruleouts in Namus. Please tell me this lady has been looked at!

 

[DeoDuce]

Bumping this thread. CherBearSTL: April Pitzer disappeared the same day this torso was found. Coroner believes the unidentified female victim found in Wright City was not dead for very long before her body was dumped at the rest stop. Case files say she was most likely killed within 50-100 miles of the rest stop. The most recent reports on this case were that the victim was believed to have been killed 6/27/2004. April was last seen 6/28/2004. I am replying to this to bump this thread, and to update. I live near this area and have been following this case. The coroner originally has the torso victim listed as 20-45 years old, but he believes (according to more recent news stories) her to be most likely in her early 20s when she was murdered. I hope someone out there sees this story and knows of her family. We know she has got to have family out there. She had a C-section at one point, so it is likely she has a child somewhere. With the location and nature of this crime, I believe that we are looking at an experienced killer, serial in nature. This was most likely not the killer's first victim (as dismembering people is against our nature, and not easy). The location of the victim leads me to believe this is likely a trucker or someone who travels I-70 regularly for work or business. The fact that the body was also found wearing a bra, and nothing else, suggests that the killer did use some "displaying" of the body, which again points to a serial killer. I believe that the killer lives or works nearby the rest stop or uses I-70 as a regular commute, as Law Enforcement has said she was probably killed nearby and was not dead for very long before being dumped. Whoever killed her has GOT to have more victims out there, and I hope he is found and brought to justice. RIP Unknown.

 

[DeoDuce]

I would like to add some information to this thread. I have been asking around local LE and doing a lot of research to see about any updates on this case. This is what I've found:

- victim was found with the legs severed below the knee.
- victim was dismembered with a 12" Ginsu serrated knife, recovered near the body with the victim's DNA on it. I researched the knife online. It is slightly more expensive than a knife set you'd buy in a box store. (It appears to me initially that this knife is not just some random, generic knife you'd buy in a panic after killing someone. It seems more thought out.)
- ME and LE now generally believe she was in her 20s when she was killed (initial reports list her as old as 45-50).
- ME and LE now believe she was white or light-skinned Hispanic. (original reports list the possibility of her being Bi-Racial. I'm not sure how they ruled that part out, but they do not mention Bi-Racial anymore, only white or light-skinned Hispanic.
- ME personally believes she was a runner due to the lack of body fat, presence of muscle definition, and flat chest. If she was not a runner, she regularly worked out. ME specifically says "runner," though, when theorizing about this victim's habits. He has seen tons of dead people, so if he feels that this woman was a runner, it is likely she was a runner. He cites the muscle definition in the upper leg area (sorry, not a doctor, don't know what that's called) as evidence of habitual running/working out.
- as a result of her being physically fit, it would have been potentially difficult to subdue her. LE theorizes suspect is confident, physically strong.
- she had scarring of the ovaries, which could possibly have been from Pelvic Inflammatory Disease. PID stems from STDs. So this would point us down the path of the torso victim being a prostitute.
- due to the ovary issue, she may have had complaints of bad menstrual periods in her regular life.
- she had a kidney infection, so she may have had some pain in her abdomen when she was living her normal life, before she was murdered.
- Male DNA was found on the torso victim in the vaginal area.

I hope that by listing new information on this case, someone will see something that sparks a memory.

 

[CarlK90245]

http://www.nampn.org/cases/bridges_renee.html

Renee Ocelia Bridges has both a Cesarean scar and a gall bladder surgery scar.

Compare that to the UID, who has a Cesarean scar and an appendectomy scar.

Not exact, but close, and she was LKA a month and a half before the UID was found/

 

[DeoDuce]

I will submit your potential match to the Doe Network this evening. I have previously submitted MP Zelma Ortiz from CT and am waiting to hear back if that is a match, although it could take up to 2 years to hear back on DNA testing on these cold cases. I know the LE and ME in this particular case are ready to go on any leads, even if they are longshots. The ME in this case has written several recent articles in local papers about how much this torso case bothers him. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[DeoDuce]

Renee Ocelia Bridges was found deceased in 2006, an unfortunate victim of homicide. http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?8705-NC-Renee-Bridges-35-Wilkesboro-14-May-2004

 

[bflocket]

- victim was found with the legs severed below the knee.
- victim was dismembered with a 12" Ginsu serrated knife, recovered near the body with the victim's DNA on it. I researched the knife online. It is slightly more expensive than a knife set you'd buy in a box store. (It appears to me initially that this knife is not just some random, generic knife you'd buy in a panic after killing someone. It seems more thought out.)

I know something (not a lot, but something) about the knife. My parents had one when I was a child (early-1980's).

I don't know where they got it, but Ginsu's were apparently marketed through early "infomercials" and helped fuel their infiltration of American (and worldwide) society. My father doesn't like to spend money. For lack of a better term, he's "cheap³ and then some." They had to have done a hell of a good job hawking them if we had one.

Ginsu's success is why we all know the phrase "Order in the next 10 minutes and you'll get not only..." and have heard of Snuggies, Magic Bullets, Juiceman, OxiClean, ProActiv and countless other products (whether we'd actually ever buy/use them or not).

Here is one of those infomercials that includes the knife my family had. It is the one cutting the bread and the frozen spinach (or whatever that is). That's the only one I remember, so we must not have sprung for the "complete set" with all of the other knives.
Original Ginsu 1 Ad

Their marketing history aside, the knife used to dismember her grabbed my attention because it shocked the living daylights out of me.
They do a damned good job in the kitchen and can cut through frozen food boxes.

But I can't, for the life of me, imagine one being used to dismember (not merely carve up) a human body. There would be the chance of people coming/going, you'd need to spend a little bit of time cutting and it would make a pretty good mess. Even if the dismemberment were done elsewhere, it would be pretty conspicuous to get a torso out of your car there.
I wonder where her other pieces are? I figured that if they were dumped (as the torso was) they would have been noticed somewhere. Maybe it was a real sicko that decided to keep them around for some reason.

Because of the date, I doubt it was the same Ginsu we had when I was little. Here are some of their "later models" available now. It would have to be a very high-end and expensive kitchen knife to do what it did to that poor lady.
Ginsu (knives/sets that are available now)

It appears to me initially that this knife is not just some random, generic knife you'd buy in a panic after killing someone. It seems more thought out.

I think whoever murdered her already had that knife and thought it would be good for the job. I can't see it being purchased for the purpose of cutting up a body, whether planned out or bought in haste.

 

[bflocket]

After I'd just spent way too much time thinking about and researching that knife, another big question popped into my head.

The victim was cut into different pieces. It was probably done somewhere other than the rest area (or in a van or something parked there) due to it not being noticed by anyone there. Only the torso was there, so the other parts must have been dumped somewhere else.

If someone is mobile enough to drop of body parts in different places, why would they leave the knife anywhere near any of the parts???

 

[DeoDuce]

This is why we have this message board. That is some great information about Ginsu knives. I have printed it out and stuck it in my file. Random details that someone may not notice can be caught by someone else. Thanks for your post on the knife. I think after reading your post now more than ever that the killer had the knife in advance.

As far as the other parts go:

1. Victim was not killed at the scene. There was a lack of blood at the scene. The victim was killed elsewhere (law enforcement is 100% sure of this). Due to the rate of decomposition, the victim was likely killed within a 50-100 mile radius of the rest stop.
2. She was found fairly quickly after being dumped, and she had been dumped fairly quickly after being killed. She was discovered on a Monday morning at 7am. She was dumped sometime between 9-11pm the previous night. She had been killed either late Saturday night or early Sunday morning. Again, this is all science-based, so this puts the killer somewhere in Missouri when he dismembered her. We still do not know that location.
3. This is likely a serial murder. This woman was not this killer's first victim. It takes a lot of confidence, planning and physical strength to do what he has done here so far. If you delve into the world of serial killers and their victims, serial killers tend to have a "displaying" behavior where they either pose the bodies, or leave objects as "clues" to taunt police. In this case, LE feels that the Ginsu knife was left there on purpose, as a taunt to police, like "I'm done with her, she's trash, and I'm done with this knife, too, so you can have it." Also, there was no attempt to conceal the torso, and she was left with her genitals exposed but her breasts covered. LE is considering that a "displaying" behavior as well. Very common behavior in serial killers. They display, even if it's just leaving them in a field for someone to find. You can read books on Zodiac, BTK, Night Stalker, etc to see examples of displaying behavior. They are going for shock value to get maximum effect.

 

[DeoDuce]

Quote from Ginsu's Facebook page:

"Ginsu kitchen cutlery is known for its extreme sharpness and ability to cut through anything!
Check out our website at www.genuineginsu.com"

 

[DeoDuce]

This all leads me to believe the killer probably lives with someone who has a cooking ability, like a sister or mother. Or even a wife, as it sometimes turns out. I will try to get more details on the knife that can be made public. I am attending a local conference with some cold case detectives on this issue next month.

 

[CarlK90245]

This all leads me to believe the killer probably lives with someone who has a cooking ability, like a sister or mother. Or even a wife, as it sometimes turns out. I will try to get more details on the knife that can be made public. I am attending a local conference with some cold case detectives on this issue next month.

I can remember several years ago that there were a lot of TV commercials advertising Ginsu knives, similar to the commercials you see for slap-chops and sham-wows.

 

[DeoDuce]

I am wondering if infomercials tend to attract an older audience? My mom ordered from infomercials when I was a kid, but I never have. I just order something online. What do you guys think about that?