Woman run over by car murdered

Cathy Scott

Thursday, June 26, 1997 | 11:48 a.m.

A woman's body found pinned beneath the front wheels of a car was "mangled badly" by an assailant who intentionally ran over her, Metro Police said.

"The car got stuck in the sand while someone ran over her with it," homicide Sgt. Bill Keeton said, adding that blood found on the outside of the car indicated "there was a struggle before she was run over."

A housing construction crew working near a wash at El Capitan Way a quarter-mile west of Durango Drive and Flamingo Road noticed the car about 6 a.m. Wednesday when they arrived at the site, police said.

About 1:30 p.m., they decided to check out the car and saw the woman's body pinned under the car and called police, Keeton said.

The red foreign compact car, which was locked, was registered to a California man. It also had Texas bumper stickers.

"It appears someone did this and then walked off," Keeton said.

Police from Southern California went to the owner's home Wednesday night, but no one was there, Keeton said. They were expected to try again today, he said.

The woman, who was so badly mangled that detectives couldn't even tell what race she was, suffered massive head and body injuries, Keeton said. She was wearing jogging shorts and a tank top.

It took a Clark County Fire Department rescue crew using air bags several hours to lift the car off the body.

The coroner's office is attempting to identify the woman, whose didn't have any identification. An autopsy is scheduled for today.

Police ask that anyone with information about the woman or the murder call homicide at 229-3521 or Secret Witness at 385-5555.