I just picked up on this thread last night and wanted to voice some thoughts here so they are written down and can be corrected/amplified by others.
Victim did not have her shoes on and bruised toe indicates to me she was dragged there. Victim was taken there to this spot by the killer, IMO.
Per report above consensual sex is apparent.
Jane Doe for this many years indicates to me she had a transient, run-away, prostitute lifestyle. MOO. Not an expert.
Underwear covering gunshot wounds in head is interesting. The underwear does not appear to be a signature for the killer (I was hoping it was, I searched google for such murders but came up empty) but instead served a purpose of hiding the fact she was dead, plus it also served as something to protect his vehicle from spilling blood. Using underwear indicates a disorganized offender, who killed without much planning. It was probably all he had available in his car. An organized offender would have likely kept her panties as a trophy, IMO, to keep the fantasy more easily re-lived in the future. Disorganized offenders also make no effort to hide the body well, and this one was found the next day by hikers. A disorganized offender would not have traveled far with the body.
Victim IMO was likely a prostitute in Reno area or Carson City area at farthest. California side is unlikely; it is a significant drive and offers plenty of places to discard a body as well as this one was, and I see no advantage to take it very far. Therefore I think the original crime scene was in Reno or Incline Village area, possibly Carson City. I doubt Incline Village has much of a prostitution scene, if any. Reno and Carson City however do.
As a possible but completely hypothetical scenario, he could have picked her up in Reno, paid for sex, got to know enough about her to establish she was some sort of run-away who wouldn't be missed, and shot her in his vehicle (perhaps a van), covered the open wound with his underwear, drove her to the Mt. Rose Hwy spot, put some of her clothing back on, put her underwear in her pocket, dragged the body down the path and then left her there, face down.
What I bump into with regard to that theory is the swimsuit and also the way her hair was done. Prostitutes IMO wear their hair as sexy as possible, down, not in a bun. They also don't have a swimsuit on underneath their jeans with a pair of underwear in their pocket.
If it has been established that she was wearing a swimsuit, here is a theory that encompasses that. Her pimp shot her after taking her up to the lake on a swimming excursion. He knew she was homeless and wouldn't be missed. After shooting her, he then covered the wound with his underwear, and took body to the hiking path. Based on the lack of planning, this may have been done out of anger and rage. And a pimp would have a handgun at all times, IMO.
