Identified! OH - Troy, Miami Co., 'Buckskin Girl' WhtFem 133UFOH, 15-25, Apr'81 - Marcia King

[Raindancemaggie10]

Thank you Raindance. I'm trying to figure out if this feels like a random dumping spot or if the killer knows this area. What do you think?

I'm not sure. It seems like there would be better places if you were familiar with the area, doesn't it?

I think it's totally possible it's random, I just don't think its likely she was dumped from a Semi in that location.

The Benasutti angle interests me but so little is available online now.

There was also a female body found on a road not too far off iddings in a ditch in the early 90s by two school boys. I knew the boys and it was a family friends home they ran to when they discovered it. I think they identified that woman eventually but I have no idea if they ever found out who killed her. I can't find a single thing about it online. Do you remember this? I'm going to look up the road name when I get home.

 

[Raindancemaggie10]

Okay, it looks like Kessler cowelsville is the road. I would have to drive down it to be certain, I've seen the exact location before. The house they went to sat at 3 way intersection, and was a rental. I can't find anything at all about it online, and not sure it's even relevant to this case except in proximity.

 

[Raindancemaggie10]

Welcome, and thanks for sharing your excellent insights

Somewhere in an article I read in this thread, it was stated that very early on one or two people thought she might have been a girl they saw in a bar shortly before she was found. I do not think BG was a prostitute (though I could easily be wrong.) However, if she was the woman from the bar it could be that she was just a crime of opportunity for him.

Hi IE, sorry I missed this post. I'm still trying to navigate WS, I'll get the hang of it eventually!

I think it's possible that it could have been a crime of opportunity for Benasutti, if he were indeed the culprit. This happened about a year prior to his marriage, but over all I could see him earning the trust of a young girl needing a ride. He never gave the impression that he was an unsavory character, he coached 2nd? 3rd? Grade girls soccer teams later in life, was married, strong Catholic.

I believe most of his (admitted) crimes took place in the Springfield (clark county) area... And involved prostitutes and/or girls down on their luck. I think this too was just opportunity in a way, farther from home and women people wouldn't notice missing. My recollection was that he wasn't interested in sex with them. It would make sense that he would refine his technique a bit if he truly had been active that many years.

But that's all speculation on my part. It's entirely possible he wasn't involved at all.

Has anyone ever identified the Bar she may have been spotted at?

 

[Alleykins]

Has anyone ever identified the Bar she may have been spotted at?

-Raindancermaggie10
I was just going to ask you if you knew of any nearby bars, lol.
I don't think they released that information. I don't know about anyone else, but when I read that she had been spotted in a local bar in a recent article, I was surprised. It was the first time I'd heard of any possible eyewitnesses. I would aslo like to know what they reported.

 

[Raindancemaggie10]

Alleykins

There is a bar in West Milton on 48 near where 571 intersects (Skippers/corner tavern) but I don't know if it was operating at the time.

As far as bars in Troy or Piqua in the early 80s, I havent a clue. Maybe Armchair has some ideas? I can check with some relatives, too.

 

[Alleykins]

Alleykins
There is a bar in West Milton on 48 near where 571 intersects (Skippers/corner tavern) but I don't know if it was operating at the time. As far as bars in Troy or Piqua in the early 80s, I havent a clue. Maybe Armchair has some ideas? I can check with some relatives, too.

Thank you for checking.

 

[Armchair-reader]

I'm going to have to try and do this from memory. I was not old enough to be in bars in 81. If I can find more info I will post it. In Troy Ohio you had the Eagles, Elks, Moose, VFW, AMVETS, Troy Fish and Game. Taverns would be The Railroad Lounge or tavern. The Depot. (Both right on the railroad tracks..not on the tracks but along the tracks ) The Pub. Quite a few Taverns downtown but names have changed many times. The holiday Inn lounge was a big time hang out back then the girls were dressed in real tiny black shorts, black nylons. That was the happening place. It no longer exists. Hope this gives ya'll some ideas. This poor girl needs to go home.

 

[Armchair-reader]

Correction. I said the Pub but I meant the Brewery. If she were seen at a bar in Troy it would have to be inside town. Not much going on outside of town. Back then they didn't have BWs and Applebees ect. I don't see a reason why she would head out walking on 55 alone (meaning no real party type destination..club, bar)
You know what guys. I just thought of something. I don't think it was ever mentioned and it probably isn't important but... on 55 there is a restaurant called Lincoln Square. (55 in Troy is called Market Street) Lincoln Square caters to Troy residents but also a lot of truckers and travelers. (Not saying it was a trucker) that restaurant is just a hop and skip away from where she was found. Approximately 4 miles.

 

[kat913]

Lincoln Square opened in 1999...was there something else prior to that year there, Armchair?

 

[kat913]

Was the Holiday Inn Lounge in town? Also a motel?

 

[hec60504]

You would think that whomever killed her would want to dump her body as far as possible from the site of the murder - when you move a dead body, it's because you don't want to get caught - throw police off the trail. It also takes a lot of work - dead bodies are heavy, and often messy. I also tend to believe that the subject may not have been familiar with the area; I think they just got out into the country and found a dark (I think the body was dumped at night) and quiet place where they hoped no one would notice them.

 

[kat913]

That's exactly what I think...I still see it as a truck coming off I-75 and back on again. I did the jog in a car (very very dark at night) and you could be undetected if you shut down your own lights...plus a bobtail (tractor without trailer) could easily navigate on the roads. Being that there is a interstate split some miles down south...it could lead you east or west and very far away from Troy, Ohio.

 

[Raindancemaggie10]

It's very dark. It's also very quiet. There is virtually no noise at all at night out there. Thats another part of the semi theory I can't get behind. I would think someone, even if only in retrospect, would remember hearing it. Anything is possible though. And I agree you would think that if the person were familiar they'd pick a more discrete location.

I don't remember what the name of Lincoln square was previously, but I know it was open back in the early 90s. There was a little motel beside it, my friends stepdad was the janitor and used to take us swimming in the pool.

 

[kat913]

I know it is so very quiet out there hardly any houses there now...in '81 it was probably even more desolate?

 

[Armchair-reader]

It was in April. You need to factor in the temperature. Did people still have their houses shut up. It was all corn fields and bean fields out there. Had farmers began getting the fields ready to plant yet? I think early April would be to soon but it would be nothing to see trucks emptying corn cribs and going to the elevator at this time.

 

[LucyOso]

Does anyone know what the weapon was that had been used to strike her on the head? It does not appear to be consistent with the nail remover on a regular hammer.

It would be really interesting to know what they are defining blunt force trauma to the head as. Object strike or a fall? Deceleration? The only reason I mention this is I have had a case where a young man was in the back of a pickup truck, it hit a bump, he fell on the tailgate with his abdomen then toppled out. He had a injury to his head from striking the ground, but the tailgate fall caused a liver laceration. That was the eventually fatal injury. It would be interesting to know suspected mechanism of injury leading up to asphyxiation.

 

[carbuff]

You're right, in most cases blunt force trauma by itself says nothing about the instrument or the cause. I don't think we even know whether the trauma is assiciated with the visible injury to her forehead. For all we can see from the photos, the back of her head could be where she was struck.

I agree, it would be i teresting to know, but probably wouldn't help us identify her.


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[ElMeow]

Was it confirmed that all of the lacerations and headwounds were caused antemortem? I feel like there could be a few that might have been caused post mortem, and that's why several of the wounds causes can't be identified. For all we know, the asphyxiation was caused from her tongue relaxing and blocking her airway while she was unconscious.

 

[LucyOso]

Side note...looking at her coat. Did a google search for Annie Oakley jacket. Popped up quiet a few that could be similar. Just wondering if we've explored re-enactment groups further.

 

[Alleykins]

Side note...looking at her coat. Did a google search for Annie Oakley jacket. Popped up quiet a few that could be similar. Just wondering if we've explored re-enactment groups further.

If I'm not mistaken, the Annie Oakley Museum is not too far from where she was found, about 36 miles or so.
Her birthplace is 37 miles north.