Murder Scene

There was no identification on or near the body. She was a nameless young woman who played with fire and lost. The question was, who murdered her?

It’s June of 1985, San Diego East County and a typically perfect day in Mt. Laguna. June 22 to be exact. The high temperature was 82 degrees and the next day the mercury shot up to 91 degrees. The area is surrounded by igneous rock, formed and crystalized thousands of years ago from volcanos. The boulders jut out from the manzanita, tangled, thorny chaparral and sagebrush as the elevation stretches up almost 6,000 feet above sea level You’ll hear an occasional car drive by this scenic route and the faint sounds of traffic in the distance on Interstate 8. Then in a turnout, off this county road, campers and truckers pull off the road to spend the night. Marring the natural beauty, you see dirt, gravel broken glass bottles, tin cans and bits of paper strewn all over. Tonight , a long with the trash, was the lifeless body of a young woman, dumped like another piece of discarded trash. She was nude with her clothes piled on her abdomen, her pale cold skin exposed to the night. Blotchy bruises already gray with death covered her neck and face. Her deep brown hair swept across her forehead with the soft, summer breezes.