SLAY MYSTERY
Body found on B’klyn shore in 2011 still not ID’d
Seven years after her body was found stuffed in a shopping cart on a Brooklyn shore, cops haven't been able to identify a young murder victim — despite the latest scientific tests, officials said Tuesday.
Cops know how the woman — known only as a Jane Doe — died, but they don't know where and who was resThey do know that she is possibly from Mexico or Central America,, thanks to something called a stable isotope test that looks at water consumption in the body to determine where a person comes from, according to officials.
On July 17, 2011, cops found the woman wrapped in plastic and stuffed into a collapsible shopping cart on the rocks off Gravesend Bay in Bath Beach. The grisly find was made just before 7 p.m. as dozens of onlookers walked along the Shore Parkway promenade that summer night.
The body had been dumped in the water and washed up on the rocks, but the changing tides made it difficult for detectives to determine where the body had been put into the water.
The woman, believed to be between 18 and 25 years old, had been killed by penetrating blows to the head and neck. She had been murdered about 24 hours before her body was found.
The victim was wearing a pair of Only You jeans, a distinct brand that cops hoped could help identify her because only a handful of stores sold the line at the time.
Detectives had circulated a sketch of the woman, but made very little headway in their investigation.
Recently, through the help of a grant given to the city medical examiner's office, investigators from the forensic anthropology department were able to exhume the woman's body and perform the stable isotope test, which helped narrow down the region where she came from, sources said.
The test is often used to help detectives rule out places to search as they try to put a name to an unidentified murder victim, sources with knowledge of the test said.
Police describe the woman as black or Hispanic with brown eyes and dark curly hair. She was about 5-feet-7 and 150 pounds and sported a gold tooth.
Besides the size 7-8 jeans, she was wearing a sleeveless black summer blouse and a black belt with a silvercolored oval belt buckle.
Anyone with information is asked to call the CrimeStoppers tip line at (800) 577-TIPS.
All calls will be kept confidential.