Omaha World-Herald
May 13, 2006 Saturday Midlands; Nebraska; Sunrise Nebraska:
01B
NEWS;
Pg.
Mystery shrouds woman's remains
Kristin Zagurski
Elizabeth Ahlin,
World-Herald
Writers
and
Staff
COUNCIL BLUFFS -Two men hunting for
morel mushrooms in
wetlands
north
of
Council Bluffs last week
saw something through a
hole rusted in the side of
a 55-gallon drum that
raised their suspicions,
so they called police.
Inside,
investigators
found
a
woman's
remains that had sat
undiscovered for years.
They worked for a week
to learn details about the
woman with the help of a
forensic anthropologist
from
Kansas
State
University:
She was between 24
and 32 years old and
stood about 5 feet 8
inches tall.
She had short, straight
brown hair and may
have had a physically
demanding
job
or
exercised regularly.
She probably was white
but may have had some
black ancestry as well.
What investigators still
do not know is who the
woman was, who killed
her and why.
"There's no question. It's
a
mystery,"
said
Pottawattamie
County
Attorney Matt Wilber.
"We're going to put the
best puzzle solvers on it
that we can."
The
Friday
announcement of the
body's
discovery
coincided
with
an
announcement
by
Omaha police that they
were
investigating
possible human remains
found
Thursday
in
Hummel Park, 11808
John J. Pershing Drive.
Wilber ruled out that the
remains found near the
Bluffs were either of two
local missing females -Tracy Tribble, 35, of
Council Bluffs, or Amber
Harris, 12, of Omaha.
No specifics were being
released Friday about
the remains found in
Omaha.
Those working to identify
the
woman
whose
remains were found near
Council Bluffs include a
forensic dentist being
called in by the Iowa
State
Medical
Examiner's Office to get
a narrower estimate of
the woman's age.
"Right now, we've got 24
to 32. That's a pretty
broad range of people,"
Wilber said. "My first
hope is that we're going
to be able to nail it down
a little closer."
Metallurgists from Iowa
State University will
study the barrel to
estimate how long it had
been exposed to the
elements.
In addition, investigators
got a patent number and
brand name from a seal
on the barrel and are
trying to track that.
They also will contact the
makers of Lee jeans -the kind the woman was
wearing -- in an attempt
to find out when the
jeans were made and
where they were sold.
"That obviously would
give us a beginning
date," Wilber said.
In addition to the jeans,
which were size 11 and
possibly had a greenish
tint, the woman was
wearing a turquoise and
white sweater and kneehigh socks.
Investigators are seeking
tips from the public about
missing people whose
description may match
the characteristics of the
remains, which currently
are at the state crime lab
in Ankeny, Iowa, Wilber
said.
The woman's teeth are in
"very good" shape and
could be used to identify
her, Wilber said. But, he
said,
"it's
worthless
unless
you
have
something to compare it
to."
Officials said they aren't
aware of any missing
woman who matches the
characteristics.
Finding the woman's
identity and giving her
family
closure
is
investigators'
No.
priority, Wilber said.
1
"Somewhere, somebody
is missing a daughter or
a sister or a wife," he
said.
Once an identification is
made, investigators will
start to focus on what
happened to the woman
and why, Wilber said.
They already have a
good idea of how she
died
but
are
not
releasing
that
information, he said. But,
he said, "there is no
doubt we're dealing with
a homicide."
Investigators said they
believe the woman was
"folded up" and placed
inside the barrel after
she was killed.
The barrel was found
May 6 north of the
Pottawattamie
County
Jail on land that is under
water
at
times,
depending
on
the
weather, Wilber said. For
example, he said, when
the barrel was removed,
there was water standing
underneath it but not
covering it.
Investigators know the
barrel had been there for
years because it was
rusted through in spots,
Wilber said. There also
was no soft tissue left on
the remains, he said.
Other items were found
inside the barrel with the
woman, but investigators
are not disclosing what
they were.
"There's a lot of details I
have
that
I'm
not
releasing," Wilber said.
That, he said, is because
he does not want to taint
the investigation.
"You'd be surprised how
many people falsely
confess to these types of
crimes," Wilber said.
He said investigators
only released information
they thought would be
helpful in identifying the
woman.
They
also
are
withholding the names of
the mushroom hunters
until
they
can
be
interviewed and the site
where the barrel was
found fully mapped.
"There's real reasons for
us not to turn this
(information)
over,"
Wilber said.
Anyone with information
relevant to the case
should call Investigator
Leland Bennett at the
Pottawattamie
County
Sheriff's Office at (712)
890-2222.