Her body was found in a canal nearly 45 years ago. Can new clues help solve the crime?
It’s been nearly 45 years since a woman’s body was found floating in a Davie canal.
At the time, investigators were not able to identify the woman who was found wearing blue jeans, a midriff-flowered blouse, and open toe platform shoes.
In 2019, investigators began looking at the case again and determined the woman had been killed. The woman’s body was exhumed.
On Tuesday, Davie police released a digital image of the woman that was compiled by Louisiana State University’s FACES Laboratory in hopes that “the victim’s family and friends are still in the South Florida area and can identify her.”
According to police, the woman was found on Dec. 23, 1975, in a canal in the area of 2600 Southwest 154th Avenue.
“After carefully assessing the case and meeting with investigators from the Broward County Medical Examiner’s Office, the Davie Police Department determined the circumstances of this case suggested homicide,” police said in a news release.
Police learned that the woman had been buried at Wake Forest Lawn (now Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens) in Davie.
Heather Walsh-Haney, a Florida Gulf Coast University forensic anthropologist, determined that the “skeletal remains were consistent with a 15-27- year-old female of European or white ancestry.”
Dr. Ginesse Listi, director of the LSU lab that is part of the Department of Geography and Anthropology, then composed a digital image of the woman.
Her DNA was also extracted and sent to a lab to help investigators piece together what happened.
The woman was 15 to 27 years old, 5 feet, 5 inches tall and weighed 123 pounds. She had brown hair and gaps between her upper and lower teeth.
Anyone with information is asked to email DaviePDPIO@davie-fl.gov to be put in contact with Davie Police Department’s Cold Case Unit or call Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS (8477).
This story was originally published October 13, 2020 at 7:04 PM.
