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Economy Borough
Police Chief Michael O'Brien at a news conference appealed to
the public for help identifying the woman, whose head was
discovered in the woods by a child walking home in the rural
town about 22 miles (35 km) northwest of Pittsburgh on Dec. 12,
2014.
Despite nearly 30 leads from the public following publication of
artist renderings and a bust of the woman's head, she remains
unidentified, police said. She was described as Caucasian and
about age 50.
Beaver County District Attorney Anthony Berosh said an
investigation is under way and it encompasses a range of
possibilities.
"There's a black market on body parts and that market is pretty
extensive," Berosh said.
O'Brien said the head was found too far off rural Mason Road to
have ended up there accidentally and animals moving the head had
been ruled out because the embalming fluid would have made it
unappealing.
"It didn't roll off a truck. It just didn't happen that way,"
Berosh said.
Holding up a toy red rubber ball that was similar to those
discovered in the woman's eye sockets, O'Brien said funeral home
directors and medical examiners all told police that they "have
never even heard of this type of use to replace eyes that have
been enucleated from the body."
Beaver County Coroner Teri Tatalovich-Rossi said the head was
severed with jagged cuts on the exterior, and more precise cuts
on the interior. The time of death could not be determined due
to the embalming fluid.
Toxicology reports indicate the woman had trace amounts of drugs
used to treat cardiac distress in her system, suggesting she may
have died from heart failure, O'Brien said.
New information from hair and tooth enamel indicates that in the
seven months leading up to her death, she moved up to four times
and possibly lived in southwestern Pennsylvania, central
Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio, northern West Virginia, northern
Maryland or eastern New York, O'Brien said. Her last dental work
was likely performed in the 1990s.
O'Brien said the head was buried on Saturday after investigators
had obtained all possible forensic evidence.
(Editing by Barbara Goldberg and Bill Trott)
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