"You guys see things like this a lot?" Dr. Warner asked as she led Reid and Blake down the hall to the morgue.
"More than we would like," Blake told her.
"Well, it's not something I see a lot of," the coroner replied as she led the way into the autopsy room. "So, while I can give you answers to the routine questions, I am hoping that maybe you can give me some direction."
Dr. Warner opened a drawer and, after pulling out the tray, pulled back the sheet so the agents could see the partially decomposed body. "This is the first victim, Lillian Williams," she told them. "My estimate is that she was killed the next morning."
"Approximately twelve hours after she was abducted," Reid commented.
"Cause of death?" Blake asked.
"Strangulation," was the reply. "Judging from the marks I could find around her neck and the damage to her hyoid bone, I would assume a man's belt was the weapon used."
"Do you have any idea of what was done to her during the twelve hours before she was killed?" Blake asked.
"Going by what I found in her lungs, I would guess that at some point she was kept in the trunk of a car," the coroner reported. "There were multiple carpet fibers present and also pine needles, like those found on a Christmas tree. And, judging by the contents of her stomach, she wasn't given anything to eat or drink."
"There also was a fairly large bruise on the back of her head," the woman continued. "I would assume that is how he initially immobilized her."
"So, he snuck up behind her, knocked her unconscious, put her into the trunk of his car, which hadn't been cleaned out since December, and then strangled her," Blake summarized.
Reid picked up the woman's hand and examined the nails. "My guess is that at some point while she was in the trunk she regained consciousness," he commented. "Look at her nails. She tried to claw her way out."
"There are also defensive wounds," Blake observed as she looked at the other hand and arm. "She fought him!"
"And lost," the coroner added sadly.
"Sexual assault?" Reid asked.
"Yes, and it was pretty bad. The details are in my report," Dr. Warner motioned to the folder she had given the agents.
"The other victim – Ruth Snow?" Reid asked.
"Over here," Dr. Warner led the way to a table on the far side of the room and pulled the sheet back.
"She wasn't strangled," Blake observed, examining the neck.
"No," the woman confirmed. "Her carotid artery was cut and she bled out."
"Anything in her lungs?" Reid asked.
"Nothing," the coroner told him. "And, there is no indication that she tried to fight her way out of any type of confinement."
"Can you tell how long was she held before being killed?" Blake asked.
"Not long at all," the coroner replied. "My guess would be a matter of two to three hours.
"Completely different MO," Reid observed.
"Completely different," the coroner agreed with him. "If they hadn't each been found in the general vicinity of the UFO sightings, I never would have connected them."
"Actually," she hesitated before continuing. "The first body, Lillian Williams, bears a closer resemblance to a case from about a year ago, over in Washtenaw County."
"To the north of here?" Blake asked. "What do you know about that murder?"
"Not much," was the reply. "I received a notice at that time from their coroner which just gave the basic details. They have a large transient population due to the colleges and universities, and the coroner thought that the guilty party might show up in an adjacent jurisdiction, so he distributed the information."
"Can we get a copy of that?" Reid asked.
"I was looking for it when you arrived," Dr. Warner told him. "It will probably take me some time to find it, but after I do I can fax a copy over to the sheriff's office for you."