Warning: Very graphic material discussed in this chapter. Rated M. Use caution as needed.
July 27th, 0815 Hours
Trina was sitting half awake at her desk as Seth talked about what happened over the nightshift. She struggled to focus on what he was saying.
"Are you okay? You look ready to fall over." Seth commented.
"I am tired. Guess I didn't get enough sleep last night." She shrugged.
"Tell Chandler to keep his bing to himself." Seth winked.
"I am not too tired to strangle you." She rolled her eyes.
John walked in with a frown on his face. He handed Trina a folder. "We got an ID on our train guy. His name is Johnny Curtis; he was a professional dancer."
"Johnny Curtis…where have I heard that name?" she frowned.
"He has been listed as a missing person for about a month. His prints weren't in the system but Dolph made the ID using the missing person's databank." John explained. "He called me while I was on my way in this morning."
"Curtis…. oh yeah he was reported missing from Huntington." Trina made the connection.
"Dolph said his family is coming in later. I am going to be there to get their statements and talk with them." John grabbed a cup of coffee.
"If he was a professional dancer, that explains the calluses on his feet. And having a toned body." Trina made some notes. "Says here he went by the professional name of 'Fandango'."
"How did a professional dancer come up missing and end up dead on train tracks down here?" Seth frowned.
"I am hoping his family can maybe give me some answers." John sat down.
"I hope they can. This case has more questions every time we turn around." Trina frowned.
"How is Def Leppard?" Seth asked.
"He is warming up to me better. And Daniel seems to love him. He is getting stronger walking on three legs." She smiled as she read over the file.
"I have heard of crazy cat ladies. But Trina is the first crazy goat lady I have ever met." Seth chuckled.
"I have a yard full of cats." Trina looked up.
Jerry walked into the room. "Trina, you need to get out to the landfill road area. I will call Steve and Dolph and have them meet you there. Just got a call, someone found a body."
"Wait…what? Another one?" She stood up and began gathering her things.
"Michael Hayes just called it in. He found it while walking in the woods. He is in the middle of nowhere so you might be in for a hike." Jerry said.
"Need me to go with her?" Seth asked.
"No, you go on home to get some rest. John, your meeting with the Curtis family might be delayed so contact them and have them meet you here. You can still interview them and then go to the morgue with them when Dolph is ready." Jerry ordered his team.
"I will be glad when fall hits. Summer seems to be bringing out the crazies." John groaned.
0845 Hours
Trina arrived at the edge of the woods on landfill road, seeing Steve and Dolph had already arrived and were speaking with Michael Hayes. She jumped out of the SUV and hurried to join them.
"Good morning gentleman." She greeted them.
"Trina, glad you are here. Mr. Hayes has quite a story to tell." Steve said.
"Walk me through it, Michael. What is going on?" Trina asked.
"I was out looking for ginseng this morning. I have a few areas I look in regularly. I was in the woods about a mile in, and I saw what I thought was a doll, prank something. I thought I'd get a closer look. It's a girl tied to a tree…she's dead." Michael paled a bit.
"Did you touch anything?" Steve asked.
"I touched her ankle to try to shake her awake but she was ice cold. And the smell…. I knew. I then began walking until I could get a cell phone signal to call the police." Hayes told them.
"Can you take us back to where she is?" Steve asked.
"Yeah, I know the area." Michael told them.
"Okay, let us grab our equipment and you lead the way." Steve told him.
Dolph, Steve and Trina began grabbing their bags of equipment from the vehicles. All three of them prepared for the worst, knowing that this was going to be a rough case. Once they were ready with their equipment, they began following Michael into the woods.
"You say you come out here often, when was the last time you were here?" Trina asked, hoping to begin developing a timeline.
"A few weeks ago. You have to be careful where you look for ginseng." Hayes said.
"No kidding. You mess with someone else's patch and they will shoot at you like they are protecting family." Trina agreed.
"Some new plants growing up this way I have had my eye on. Not mature enough to dig yet." Michael told them.
"When you were out here the last time, did you see anything unusual?" Steve asked.
"No, everything was normal. Not many people hike or camp in this area. It is one reason I come out here." He explained.
"There aren't even trails." Dolph grumbled as they walked through tall grass.
"Easy guys, in this heat snakes are going to be everywhere." Trina warned.
They pushed their way through the tall grass and briar bushes as they followed Michael. Steve was extra vigilant about snakes, wanting to keep Trina safe as well as the others. Hayes had been right when he said he was far back in the woods when he found this woman. It was a long hike in a lot of heat.
Finally, they came upon the scene Michael had told them about. There was no clearing, thick tall weeds but they could see where the vegetation had been walked on and pushed where someone besides Michael had walked. They could see what appeared to be a woman tied to the tree in a sitting position. There was a lot of blood and flies were buzzing around. The smell of decay hit them.
"Okay, Mr. Hayes, we need you to stay back and let us work. Do not touch anything." Steve explained. "Dolph, you can get started. I will set up a perimeter and begin searching for evidence. Trina, you take the crime scene photos. Everyone use some Odorscreen."
Everyone moved to do as ordered. They passed around the tube of Odorscreen and put it under their noses. Trina grabbed the camera out of one of the bags and began taking pictures. She was careful to stay out of Dolph's way as he began examining the body.
"Appears to be female, long hair, full breasts, painted toenails. Jane Doe is wearing a tank top and shorts. No shoes, no socks." Dolph made notes.
"There is blood everywhere." Trina commented.
"From the spatter patterns I am seeing on the tree and surrounding vegetation, I would say she was killed right here." Dolph said. "This is a definite homicide."
"Who in the world would drag someone all the way out here to kill them?" Trina frowned.
"I don't know. She is tied to the tree at the waist and neck. Thick rope is used." Dolph observed. "Body is so messy I can't guess a cause of death; I will have to wait until I get her back to the morgue."
"It appears as if she suffered damage to the facial area as well." Trina observed.
"Apparently her injuries were peri-mortem. Blood has clotted one some of the wounds." Dolph looked closer. He reached down and examined her legs. "Lividity has set in and based on her legs, I'd make an educated guess that she died in this position and was left as she was. Killer just walked off when he was done."
"From the spatter patterns I am seeing, the killer or killers had to get blood on them." She observed.
"Body shows signs animals chewing on the body. I do see some fly eggs in the blood but they have not hatched into maggots. My guess is she has been here about a day. But this heat is going to have sped up the rate of decay." Dolph said.
"I'll get some bags for the evidence. That rope will need to be examined." Trina walked behind the tree. "I have no idea what type of knots these are."
Steve walked over. "Round turn with two half hitches."
Trina looked up at him startled. "How do you know that?"
"I have two boys, both of whom were boy scouts." Steve explained. "They are well done."
"Find anything?" Trina asked.
"So far no usable footprints. But the weeds have been trampled in a path leading in from Highway 32. I haven't found any garbage, gum, cigarettes…nothing of use that way." Steve said.
"Steve, help me with the ropes. I want to get her untied and in a body bag." Dolph said.
"Let's move. We need to get her out of this heat and cleaned up. Give her some dignity back." Trina said.
1400 Hours
John walked into the break room at the Davis station and found Trina sitting on the couch asleep. He frowned and walked over and sat down beside her.
"Trina, are you okay?" he asked.
Her eyes flew open and she looked around. "Damn, I just wanted to sit down for a minute and I dozed off."
"It's okay. You had a rough morning from what I hear." John said.
"What did you get from the Curtis family? Anything helpful?" she turned her mind back to work.
"Not sure anything they said was helpful. Dolph was able to get them in for a quick ID. His hands are full with that body you guys found this morning. But I did spend a long time talking with Johnny's parents and best friend." John said.
"At least we have confirmed his identity and can return him to his loved ones." Trina said. "What did they tell you?"
"June 17th was their annual family reunion. When Johnny missed it with no phone call or explanation they became concerned. They were unable to reach him on his cell phone which has not been found. They went to his apartment and found everything in order, nothing out of place. They reported him missing to authorities in Huntington and have been using social media to get his picture out to the public." John said.
"Did they know of anyone who would want to hurt Johnny? Had he been dating anyone? Had any enemies?" Trina asked as she looked over John's notes from the interview.
"No, they said Johnny had no enemies and no serious relationship." John frowned. "But they did say he had talked about auditioning as a model."
"Model? I thought he was a dancer?" she looked up.
"He was but his best friend said he found an ad looking for models and thought he'd try it to make some extra money." John said.
"Did the friend say where he saw the ad?" Trina asked.
"No, but you know how many newspapers run ads looking for models and it turns out to be a money making gimmick." John shrugged.
"Still, I'd like to know if he ever met with anyone about it or had an appointment. Has his apartment been searched?" Trina asked.
"Huntington police looked around when he was reported as missing and his family has been there." John said.
"We need to get in that apartment and look around for ourselves. See if he left behind an appointment book or list of contacts." Trina said.
"I'll talk to the chief." John said. "You gonna be okay?"
"Oh yeah, just a long morning in the heat got to me. I'll be fine." Trina assured him.
1700 Hours
Trina climbed out of the SUV outside the morgue and saw Steve in the parking lot waiting for her. She walked across the hot pavement to where he was standing.
"Dolph must be ready for us." Steve told her. "Before we go in, how are you holding up? It has been a long day."
"I am okay. But when we get home, I wouldn't object to a nice backrub." She hugged him.
"You got it." He kissed her forehead. "But we have work to do first. Let's see what Dolph has found."
The two walked into the morgue and walked down towards the exam room. Steve looked through the window and the door and frowned when he saw that Dolph wasn't in there.
"Where could he be?"
"Let's try his office." Trina suggested.
They walked down the hall a few more doors and knocked on his office door. Dolph opened the door looking exhausted and upset.
"Dolph, what's going on?" Trina asked.
"I needed to come in here for a few minutes. This autopsy took a lot out of me. It has been one of the worst I have ever performed." Dolph sighed. "Brace yourselves before we go in there."
Dolph grabbed his lab coat and began walking towards the exam room. The married couple followed behind him as he pushed open the door and walked in. Dolph opened one of the drawers and pulled it out. He pulled the sheet back enough so they could see the female's head. He had cleaned her up but it was obvious a lot of damage had been done to her.
"So tell us what you found." Steve said.
"First the basics, Victim is female, hair dyed blonde. Five feet five inches tall, around 115 pounds. Healthy teeth, dental work. I took x-rays and did her fingerprints. I'd estimate her age to be 25 to 30 years old. No signs of disease or illness. Prior to her death I would say she was in good health." Dolph said.
"We'll fax her prints to Charleston. What else did you find?" Steve asked.
"Based on lividity and the crime scene, she was killed while tied to that tree. Whoever killed her, made her walk into those woods, tied her to that tree, then tortured her before finally killing her. Death was a blessing after all she had been through." Dolph frowned.
"How do you know she was walked into those woods?" Trina asked.
"Tox screen showed no drugs in her system. That eliminates someone drugging her to take her into the woods. Also her feet were bare, dirty and cut from walking in the woods. They took her out there barefoot." Dolph explained.
"You said she was tortured?" Steve asked.
"Yeah, I got a long list of injuries from her being tortured. I got her cleaned up and…. where do I start? Head to toe. She had been partially scalped." Dolph reached over and gently lifted her scalp away from her skull. "It was done crudely, no medical precision and done before she was killed. Blood had begun to clot."
"That is sick." Trina cringed.
"Next on the list…her left eye was gouged out." Dolph said. "I can't tell what was used but a foreign object was used to stab through the eye, again she was still alive."
"Any signs of her being gagged?" Steve asked.
"None that I have found. No tape residue around her mouth, no bruises from a gag either." Dolph said.
"She had to have been screaming at the top of her lungs." Steve frowned.
"Out in those woods, that far out, who would've heard her?" Trina countered.
"But why risk it? Why risk a camper or hiker hearing her? Is it a local that knows no one camps in that area?" Steve asked.
"Good questions. I can't understand not gagging her either." Trina admitted.
"Her face also shows signs of a beating. Broken right orbital bone, lacerations to her cheek and a split lip." Dolph said. "Both of her breasts have been stabbed multiple times, her right breast was nearly cut off. From the smears of some of the blood, the killer pulled her shirt down, stabbed her and then pulled it up again."
"That is sick. Is that what killed her?" Trina asked.
"No, cause of death was strangulation. And I found multiple ligature marks around her neck. I also found vomit on her clothes, mixed with the blood." Dolph paused. "Whoever killed her, choked her, let her regain consciousness, then choked her again. Either because they were incompetent or because they were sadistic."
"This poor woman. I can't imagine what she went through." Trina shook her head.
"There's more." Dolph said. "I ran a pelvic exam. She had been vaginally violated with a foreign object."
"Oh my god." Trina paled.
"I can't tell exactly what was used. But she had vaginal tearing and bruising. No signs of semen, lubricant or spermicide." Dolph said. "Whatever was forced inside of her, did a lot of damage."
"Any chance this was a guy that was rough or overly endowed?" Trina asked.
"No, I know forced rape from body parts. The bruising on her vaginal walls and cervix clearly come from a foreign object." Dolph said.
"This is savage. I never thought I would encounter a case like this." Trina said.
"Me either. This is…. damn, I don't even know what to think." Steve sighed.
"Whoever did this, we have to get them off the streets. They are dangerous. They are sadistic." Trina said. "Dolph, fix this lady up as best as you can. She has been through enough and when we find her family, they don't need to see the extent of what was done to her. Their grief will be bad enough. Make her look as normal as you can."
"I will." Dolph assured her. "Her pain is over. We'll take care of her now."
Steve smiled, seeing how much Trina cared for the unknown woman. "Dolph is the best." He took her hand. "Come on, we have work to do. Dolph, if you find out anything else, call us."
"I will. I don't want any more cases like this one." He said.
1830 Hours
Steve walked into the Davis station, ready to go home for the day. He had faxed the fingerprints to Charleston, caught his team up on the autopsy results and finished up everything he could for the day. Trina was sitting at her desk looking over her notes and Seth was watching something on his laptop.
"How's everything going here?" Steve asked as he sat down across from his wife.
"I am about to body slam Seth through his desk because he is listening to the Cubs pre-game over there." Trina said.
"So to answer your question, everything is normal." Seth chuckled.
"Anything new on the case?" Trina asked her husband.
"Nothing yet. Dolph fixed her face up enough to take some photos to compare against missing persons' cases." Steve said.
"I have been sitting here going over this case and the Curtis case. How could we have two such strange cases so close together? And add on top of it we have had no clues come in about Dana Brook." She sighed. "Three cases and not a clue about any of them."
"Could they be connected?" Seth asked. "I mean we did have girls reporting being followed and crude propositions."
"Our Jane Doe isn't Dana Brook. And that still wouldn't explain Curtis' murder. He is a guy. The creepers were targeting females." Trina looked over her notes.
"Maybe the Curtis case isn't related." Steve offered.
"I don't know. Nothing shows a pattern." She sighed.
"Don't get obsessed. Progress will come in time. I know you are frustrated but obsessing won't help." Steve told her.
"I can't help it. Strange shit has been happening for a few weeks now. Nothing adds up but everything is strange. It's like…. part of the puzzle is missing or something." She looked up at him.
"Listen to Steve and stop obsessing." Seth told her. "It won't do any of us any good if you can't focus."
"See there, even Seth agrees with me." Steve said.
"And if you don't stop obsessing Steve is going to start cheering for the Cubs." Seth winked.
"Am not! I don't want kicked out of bed and made to sleep on the couch." Steve rolled his eyes as Seth laughed.
"I suppose we should go on home. Not much else is going to get accomplished today." She said.
"Tomorrow we'll be headed to Huntington to look through Johnny Curtis' apartment. Chief made all the arrangements." Seth said.
"I think I will tag along for that one." Steve said. "You wanna go for a drink at Almost Heaven before heading home? It's been a long day."
"No, someone owes me a backrub and I intend to collect." She smiled.
"Oh great, she'll come in tomorrow with that glow on her face." Seth laughed.
"You're just jealous because I have a great sex life and all you have is the Cubs." Trina said.
"Very funny. I'll remember that in October when I am celebrating a World Series victory." Seth said.
"You're gonna celebrate for another team? How nice of you." She shot back.
"Come on, you can fuss with Seth in the morning." Steve laughed.
Author's Note- Decided to update while I could and still had power. So far no serious damage from the hurricane but the neighboring counties have declared a state of emergency. Guess I am just in the right place for now. Again, thank you everyone for the positive thoughts during this scary weather and as always thank you for the great reviews. You guys are awesome. Nixystix (A bit of fluff is needed every now and then.) Batistasprincess (I am safe for now and my county has no evac orders yet so fingers crossed.) jcott3 (Back in the day we had so much flooding from Hurricane Ivan that I missed a week of college courses.) reikat (When he originally did the Crow gimmick, I was mad as fire. I didn't like it and wanted my surfer back. Then I got over it and eventually came to love the Crow persona.) Carlyrosanna83 (Glad you enjoyed it.)