After two decades, police can now identify the victim of a gruesome cold case homicide.
According to the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office in Ohio, Lena Reyes-Geddes has been named as the unidentified woman who suffered a gunshot wound to her head and was found wrapped in a sleeping bag off a road near Ticaboo, Utah in 1998.
“We are now able to identify this victim through the diligent work of the State Bureau of Investigation. The victim’s name is Lena Reyes-Geddes and she resided in Ohio,” Garfield County Sheriff’s Office said in a release shared on Facebook.
“The Garfield County Sheriff’s Office is very grateful to give our victim a name and peace to her family. We are also grateful for the State Bureau of Investigation for their help.”
On Oct. 2, Reyes-Geddes’ case was reopened by the Utah Department of Public Safety, who released a series of photos of the victim in hopes of encouraging anyone to come forward with information.
• Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter.
Shortly after, the Youngstown Police Department of Ohio received a phone call from a woman living in Mexico, claiming Reyes-Geddes was her sister, an official with the Utah State Bureau of Investigation explained in a news conference obtained by Fox 13 Now.
Given that Reyes-Geddes was originally from Mexico, but had been living in Ohio for two years at the time of her death, detectives decided to move forward with the tip.
Authorities were then able to positively identify Reyes-Geddes after receiving DNA samples from her sister and niece, who have not been named, on Nov. 9.
On April 8, 1998, Reyes-Geddes was expected to travel from her home in Austintown to Dallas, Texas. However, she never made it. It is believed that she was passing through Utah at the time of her death.
According to WKBN 27, police say her body was wrapped in plastic then placed in a sleeping bag after being covered in a piece of carpet. Her body was discovered by a passerby on the road.
Now that Reyes-Geddes has been identified police are now looking for her killer.
Reyes-Geddes’ husband Edward Geddes reported her missing — six months after her tragic death.
RELATED: Virginia Man Allegedly Murders His Wife in Presence of a Child
He later committed suicide in Nevada. At the time, police considered him a suspect, but now investigators are looking at additional suspects, the official with DPS explained in the news conference.
As for why the identification took so long, The Utah Department of Public Safety explained, Reyes-Geddes’ fingertips had been removed and there was nothing to compare her to in the database as her family didn’t live in the country.
While the investigation is far from over, Reyes-Geddes’ family is “very thankful they have answers now,” an official with the Utah Department of Public Safety explained in the news conference.
“That part is very rewarding to be able to give a family some closure.”
from PEOPLE.com https://ift.tt/2P4GAHT
No comments:
Post a Comment