Woman’s death cause unknown

Cathy Scott

Friday, June 27, 1997 | 11:17 a.m.

Metro Police are hoping an autopsy set for today will tell them how a woman whose partially nude body was found in an alley was killed.

The woman's body, clad only in a black crushed-velvet halter top, with a long, black hairpiece and very long bright-orange fingernails, was found by an employee about 8:15 a.m. Thursday at 3025 Sheridan St., near Sirius Avenue and Valley View Boulevard in an industrial area. The only mark on her body was a three-inch tattoo of a black panther on her right breast, homicide Sgt. Ken Hefner said.

"It looks like she was moved from one area of the alley to another," said Lt. Wayne Petersen, noting that she was probably killed sometime Wednesday night. "Right now we don't have much to go on. We don't know how she arrived here."

The cause of death wasn't known, Hefner said, adding, "There was no real obvious trauma."

Detectives were interviewing employees of neighboring businesses to see if they saw or heard anything.

Chuck Smalley, who works for COB Scaffolding, one of four tenants in the building next to the alley, said he drove into the alley about 6:45 a.m. and didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.

"I opened up," Smalley said. "It was like every other morning. I had no clue that there was a body there until I saw the fire department drive in."

He said the catering van under which the body was found had been stored in the alley at least a week by one of the tenants.

Hefner described the industrial area as "desolate."

"At night there aren't a lot of people here," he said. "It's a fairly remote area."

Robert Snyder, assistant controller for Big Dog's Hospitality Group, also a tenant in the building, said employees lock the doors at night and early in the morning "because we don't want to take any chances."

"This neighborhood is so dark at night," Snyder said. "There aren't a lot of lights here. It's not a rough neighborhood, but it's a little spooky if you come into work early or stay late."