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Three years after grisly murder, Washoe County Sheriff’s Office still won’t provide basic answers to community.
Three years ago Anna Marie Scott, a 23-year-old Paiute mother of two small children, was found shot to death inside the trunk of a burning car left on the I-580 overpass between Carson City and Reno.
Since her death, the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office has refused to release any information surrounding the incident while simultaneously requesting help from the community.
Despite being asked multiple times over the years since her death, WCSO has refused to release even basic information such as how long Scott had been dead before she was discovered, the make or model of the car she was found in, what her movements were in the days leading up to her death, and if there are any suspects in the case, among others. They have also never commented on why this information cannot be released.
Earlier this week, multiple requests were met with responses that a WCSO spokesperson would work with investigators to see what could be released on the case. After several days passed, along with multiple phone calls and emails, the spokesperson finally said:
After reviewing the case and speaking with detectives, there isn’t any information I can provide at this time. It is still actively under investigation by our Detective Division.
Despite WCSO continuing to ask for information from the community, it’s been argued that WCSO hasn’t provided any parameters which could help potential witnesses determine what information could be helpful to their case.
For example, critics have said that without knowing Scott’s movements prior to her death, it’s impossible for potential witnesses to know what information could have helped. Or, if WCSO had released the make, model or color of the car Scott was found in, witnesses may have been able to come forward with information about seeing the vehicle and its driver and/or potential passengers prior to entering I580 that morning.
However, not only have these details never been released, but WCSO didn’t even release Scott’s identity for four days after her death, despite family and friends identifying her on social media themselves. A full month passed before the Washoe County Regional Medical Examiner released information that Scott had been killed by a gunshot wound, officially naming her death a homicide.
It has never been answered why it took so long for her name and cause of death to be released to the public.
Case highlights ongoing inequities for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women
WCSO has never held a press conference regarding Scott’s case, despite multiple agencies around the same time period holding back-to-back press conferences relating to the nearby kidnapping and subsequent murder of 18-year-old Naomi Irion.
Scott’s death is highlighted as one of the many cases of missing and murdered indigenous women throughout the United States whose cases go underinvestigated and unsolved.
In 2022, Nevada Senator Catherine Cortez Masto gave a speech on this subject, which included Scott’s case.
The American Indian Movement held a prayer circle for Scott in March 2022 outside the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office administration building to help raise awareness on her case.
“In the end, justice is in the hands of the creator,” Ray Bacasegua Valdez, Director of AIM Northern Nevada, said in 2022. “What we’re asking for is accountability. We’re trying to create awareness, to show that there is accountability. Perpetrators prey on our women because they know [these cases are often unsolved]. We want those who were responsible to be brought forward.”
Following the first prayer circle while speaking in the parking lot, surrounded by signs of Scott, a Washoe County sheriff’s deputy approached AIM leaders and asked what they were there for. Bacasegua Valdez said they were there to raise awareness surrounding the recent murders of indigenous people — shortly after Scott’s murder, 23-year-old Jacori Shaw was shot and killed by police.
Only lead killed by Sparks Officer
In the weeks after Scott’s murder, there was a single lead named publicly: 23-year-old Jacori Shaw.
WCSO said they were seeking Shaw not as a suspect but because he may have information about her case.
However, whatever Shaw knew died with him after he was shot and killed by police on Feb. 23, 2022. His death was ruled as justified despite video evidence and witness testimony from officers contradicting what was reported in the District Attorney’s ruling.
Specifically, a Sparks officer shot and killed Shaw after he said Shaw raised a gun at him. However, the gun was never seen or located on body cam footage despite a significant search attempt by over a dozen personnel on scene, and several officers later admitted they had never seen the gun themselves. Out of all the officers deployed as part of the chase, only the officer who shot Shaw said with certainty he’d been holding a gun, while one other said he saw “what he perceived to be the top part of a handgun slide possibly in the suspect’s left hand.”
Since Shaw’s killing, there have been no updates, leads or information released by the WCSO despite multiple attempts over the years to receive additional information that could help bring forward witnesses.
Case Gone Cold?
When asked for the 2025 update, Carson Now asked whether or not Scott’s case was now considered a “cold case.”
Cases are considered to be cold when all leads have been exhausted and the case is no longer being actively investigated.
On the cold case listings from WCSO’s site, the oldest cold case is Zona Shroud, discovered in 1960, while the newest listed is a John Doe whose skull was located in 2009.
No cases newer than 2009 are included in the database.
While there is no official designation for what constitutes a cold case by law, it’s typically defined as a case in which all leads have been exhausted, the case is no longer actively being investigated by the original investigators, among other criteria. Some states, such as Texas, classify a case as cold if it has not been solved in three years.
However, WCSO said the case is still under investigation. An award was increased to $5,000 in 2024 for any information that could help lead to finding Scott’s killer(s).
The award is being offered by Secret Witness. If you have any information that could help solve Scott’s case, please contact the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office Detective Division at (775) 328-3320 or Secret Witness at (775) 322-4900. Refer to case #WC22-563.
In July 2024, the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, of which Scott was a member, issued another plea for information where it identified the car as belonging to Scott. Despite this, WCSO has still never confirmed or denied the car was hers.
www.carsonnow.org
Three years ago Anna Marie Scott, a 23-year-old Paiute mother of two small children, was found shot to death inside the trunk of a burning car left on the I-580 overpass between Carson City and Reno.
Since her death, the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office has refused to release any information surrounding the incident while simultaneously requesting help from the community.
Despite being asked multiple times over the years since her death, WCSO has refused to release even basic information such as how long Scott had been dead before she was discovered, the make or model of the car she was found in, what her movements were in the days leading up to her death, and if there are any suspects in the case, among others. They have also never commented on why this information cannot be released.
Earlier this week, multiple requests were met with responses that a WCSO spokesperson would work with investigators to see what could be released on the case. After several days passed, along with multiple phone calls and emails, the spokesperson finally said:
After reviewing the case and speaking with detectives, there isn’t any information I can provide at this time. It is still actively under investigation by our Detective Division.
Despite WCSO continuing to ask for information from the community, it’s been argued that WCSO hasn’t provided any parameters which could help potential witnesses determine what information could be helpful to their case.
For example, critics have said that without knowing Scott’s movements prior to her death, it’s impossible for potential witnesses to know what information could have helped. Or, if WCSO had released the make, model or color of the car Scott was found in, witnesses may have been able to come forward with information about seeing the vehicle and its driver and/or potential passengers prior to entering I580 that morning.
However, not only have these details never been released, but WCSO didn’t even release Scott’s identity for four days after her death, despite family and friends identifying her on social media themselves. A full month passed before the Washoe County Regional Medical Examiner released information that Scott had been killed by a gunshot wound, officially naming her death a homicide.
It has never been answered why it took so long for her name and cause of death to be released to the public.
Case highlights ongoing inequities for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women
WCSO has never held a press conference regarding Scott’s case, despite multiple agencies around the same time period holding back-to-back press conferences relating to the nearby kidnapping and subsequent murder of 18-year-old Naomi Irion.
Scott’s death is highlighted as one of the many cases of missing and murdered indigenous women throughout the United States whose cases go underinvestigated and unsolved.
In 2022, Nevada Senator Catherine Cortez Masto gave a speech on this subject, which included Scott’s case.
The American Indian Movement held a prayer circle for Scott in March 2022 outside the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office administration building to help raise awareness on her case.
“In the end, justice is in the hands of the creator,” Ray Bacasegua Valdez, Director of AIM Northern Nevada, said in 2022. “What we’re asking for is accountability. We’re trying to create awareness, to show that there is accountability. Perpetrators prey on our women because they know [these cases are often unsolved]. We want those who were responsible to be brought forward.”
Following the first prayer circle while speaking in the parking lot, surrounded by signs of Scott, a Washoe County sheriff’s deputy approached AIM leaders and asked what they were there for. Bacasegua Valdez said they were there to raise awareness surrounding the recent murders of indigenous people — shortly after Scott’s murder, 23-year-old Jacori Shaw was shot and killed by police.
Only lead killed by Sparks Officer
In the weeks after Scott’s murder, there was a single lead named publicly: 23-year-old Jacori Shaw.
WCSO said they were seeking Shaw not as a suspect but because he may have information about her case.
However, whatever Shaw knew died with him after he was shot and killed by police on Feb. 23, 2022. His death was ruled as justified despite video evidence and witness testimony from officers contradicting what was reported in the District Attorney’s ruling.
Specifically, a Sparks officer shot and killed Shaw after he said Shaw raised a gun at him. However, the gun was never seen or located on body cam footage despite a significant search attempt by over a dozen personnel on scene, and several officers later admitted they had never seen the gun themselves. Out of all the officers deployed as part of the chase, only the officer who shot Shaw said with certainty he’d been holding a gun, while one other said he saw “what he perceived to be the top part of a handgun slide possibly in the suspect’s left hand.”
Since Shaw’s killing, there have been no updates, leads or information released by the WCSO despite multiple attempts over the years to receive additional information that could help bring forward witnesses.
Case Gone Cold?
When asked for the 2025 update, Carson Now asked whether or not Scott’s case was now considered a “cold case.”
Cases are considered to be cold when all leads have been exhausted and the case is no longer being actively investigated.
On the cold case listings from WCSO’s site, the oldest cold case is Zona Shroud, discovered in 1960, while the newest listed is a John Doe whose skull was located in 2009.
No cases newer than 2009 are included in the database.
While there is no official designation for what constitutes a cold case by law, it’s typically defined as a case in which all leads have been exhausted, the case is no longer actively being investigated by the original investigators, among other criteria. Some states, such as Texas, classify a case as cold if it has not been solved in three years.
However, WCSO said the case is still under investigation. An award was increased to $5,000 in 2024 for any information that could help lead to finding Scott’s killer(s).
The award is being offered by Secret Witness. If you have any information that could help solve Scott’s case, please contact the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office Detective Division at (775) 328-3320 or Secret Witness at (775) 322-4900. Refer to case #WC22-563.
In July 2024, the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, of which Scott was a member, issued another plea for information where it identified the car as belonging to Scott. Despite this, WCSO has still never confirmed or denied the car was hers.
Three years after grisly murder, Washoe County Sheriff's Office still won't provide basic answers to community - Carson Now
Three years ago Anna Marie Scott, a 23-year-old Paiute mother of two small children, was found shot to death inside the trunk of a burning car left on the I-580 […]
www.carsonnow.org
