On March 1, 1992, a trucker pausing at an Interstate 80 turnout known as Bitter Creek spotted a body lying face down in the snow, probably dumped from a truck months earlier.
The victim, a still-unidentified 24- to 32-year-old woman, was probably killed elsewhere and dumped near the westbound side of the highway between October 1991 and February 1992, said Detective Ed Robinson of the Sweetwater County Sheriff's Office.
The body, completely nude, appeared as if it had been dropped out of a truck and came to rest at the bottom of a slope. The cause of death was listed as an ice pick or similar object inserted in the victim's left nostril, penetrating her sphenoid bone. Examiners also found signs of strangulation, beating trauma to the face and jaw, as well as anal and vaginal sexual assault.
Authorities described the victim as a white woman with predominately Hispanic characteristics or Hispanic woman with American Indian characteristics. She was about 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighed 125 to 130 pounds with dark brown or black hair and brown or black eyes. She had a vertical Cesarean scar on her abdomen and a one-inch scar on her left calf.
A distinctive tattoo of a rose on the victim's right breast led officials to Ralph Holley of Kick
Tattooing near Triple-T Truck Stop in Tucson, Ariz. Holley, under hypnosis, remembered the woman and was able to give detectives a good account of their meeting. Listen to the interview.
The victim's only visible possessions were a gold-colored necklace and plain gold-colored wedding-type ring, which sat on her left ring finger. Detectives found a pair of pink panties and a pair of sweat pants nearby. Investigators managed to obtain an excellent set of fingerprints from the victim but have yet to learn her identity. Detectives have determined the killer's blood is type O.
Robinson said the sophistication of the killing points to the possible involvement of a serial offender.
