www.myfoxtampabay.com/story/1...nNB3N.facebookShe is the talk of the town in Bushnell – a mystery woman murdered back in 1971.
Now, thanks to some amazing forensic work by scientists at both USF and The University of Florida, we now know plenty about this missing woman and where she may have come from.
Sumter County Sheriff's deputies think she may have been in Tarpon Springs for the Epiphany celebration, which back then had an estimated 50,000 to 60,000 in attendance.
Her face has beguiled detectives for more than 40 years. It's a cold case that's suddenly getting a lot hotter, thanks to new digital recreations by Dr. Erin Kimmerle with USF's anthropology department and new analysis of her hair and teeth by Dr. George Kamenov at The University of Florida.
"On the victim, when she was discovered, on the victim's left wrist, she was wearing a 17-jewel Baylor watch," said Detective Darren Norris. "Facial features are very strong. She does have the long, dark hair, some more jewelry that she did have on, you can see here, there's a very thin, gold chain that she had on at the time of her death. And also on her left ring finger she did have a gold ring with a clear stone."
Kimmerle re-created the woman's plaid pants and green and white floral shawl – the entire outfit – from poor-quality autopsy photos.
Sumter County captain Kevin Hofecker led us back to where the body was found under a span called the Lake Panasoffkee Bridge along I-75.
"The state, nor the county, was as populated as it is now," said Hofecker. "Certainly you can only imagine how isolated and desolate it was then."
Two hitchhikers found her body underneath the bridge back in 1971. Investigators suspect she'd been in the water at least 30 days. She'd been strangled with a belt that was wrapped tightly around her neck.
"She had a belt, a man's belt, wrapped around her neck," said Norris, who is the lead detective on this case.
He said the woman got the name "Little Miss Lake Panasoffkee" in 1986 from then-sheriff James Adams.
unsolveditn.blogspot.com/2012...mate-cold.htmlThe victim's teeth were examined by the Geological Sciences Department at the University of Florida, detectives said. The conclusion of the analysis determined that the victim is possibly of Greek descent and most probably had come to the United States 10 to 12 months before her death.
Further testing determined the victim's teeth contained a high level of lead, which may link her to the small town of Lavrion, located approximately 60 miles southeast of Athens, Greece. Lavrion is known for its high level of lead contamination associated with mining operations in the region, detectives said.
Because of its large Greek community, detectives traveled to Pinellas County on Friday to hand out 6,000 fliers in Tarpon Springs with the woman's image and description.
"There's got to be a grieving family somewhere, and that's what we're trying to find," Det. Darren Norris told Fox 13 News of Tampa Bay.
Anyone with any possible information about the case can contact Norris at 352-569-1617, 352-569-1600 or by email at dnorris@sumtercountysheriff.org.
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