Twenty years later, murder victim remains unknown

Wednesday, July 21, 1999 | 10:43 a.m.

The story was all there, etched in the rocks and dirt surrounding her body at Sugar Pine Point State Park. It was an ending that frustrated investigators when it refused to offer even a hint of a prologue.

Ever since, for nearly 20 years, her name and the details of her life before she came to Lake Tahoe have eluded El Dorado County Sheriff's detectives.

On Sept. 29, 1979, three 20-something adults picked Sugar Pine Point as the perfect place to spend an afternoon, smoking marijuana and drinking.

One man later told police that he was following a blue jay that he thought had a broken wing when he discovered the woman's body around 2:30 p.m. He and his companions, another man and a woman, didn't call police.

The man who found the body had outstanding traffic warrants out of his home state of New York, and was worried about being arrested.

The trio returned to a South Lake Tahoe motel. Borrowing an idea from an episode of the television spinoff series "Lou Grant," one called the Tahoe Daily Tribune around 4:15 p.m. and informed the editor about the body. Believing he had done his duty, the man ended his involvement - at least for the time being.

The editor immediately notified the sheriff's department and the investigation began. The caller might have felt great confidence in Lou Grant, but it seems he wasn't so sure about this editor. Around 8 p.m. his curiosity got the best of him, and he and his two companions once again went out to the park. His fears about old traffic tickets were realized: Deputies stopped the group and he was arrested on his New York warrants.

Detective Don Atkinson said an autopsy of the woman's body revealed she died from asphyxiation and brain hemorrhaging. From tracks it appeared that the woman was chased and then her body dragged about 100 yards into the brush. She was found sprawled on her stomach, her features unrecognizable after the savage beating.

She was wearing blue jeans and a lavender pullover T-shirt. Wooden-soled sandals were found in the area. Her attacker had no interest in her jewelry. She was left with several rings, a watch, bracelet, necklace and her wedding band. The inscription inside read "To Mack from PNB."

She had dark brown hair, tinged with gray streaks, was around 5 feet 3 inches tall, and between 35 to 40 years old. After the body was discovered detectives chased down some leads on people seen in the area at the time, with no luck. In September the park only staffed a skeleton crew, and the west shore of the lake was sparsely populated.

Atkinson said cases like her's sometimes go inactive for a lack of leads, but they are never really closed.

"It's hard when you don't even know who your victim is," he said.