Woman dies after stabbing at campsite

A 53-year-old woman who was found beaten and stabbed last weekend at a Schuylkill County campsite has died, state police said Thursday, and her death is now being investigated as a homicide.

The victim, who is from Ephrata but has not been identified, was located in the passenger seat of a pick-up truck by staff of Rausch Creek Trail Riders in Hegins Township at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, according to state police at Schuylkill Haven. The woman had severe head and neck injuries and was bleeding heavily, state police said Wednesday, the day they first released information about the attack.

The woman was flown to Hershey Medical Center, where doctors discovered that she had been repeatedly stabbed and had injuries that were consistent with being strangled, police said.

The woman was pronounced dead at 3:40 p.m. Wednesday, police said.

State police were initially alerted to the attack by campground staff on Sunday morning.

Police learned the victim had been camping overnight Saturday. At 8 a.m. the next morning, a man who had been staying at the camp contacted the camp staff. The man was acting erratically and the staff questioned him about where his girlfriend was, state police said.

Camp staff drove to the camp site at 10:30 a.m. Sunday and located the victim covered in blood in the passenger seat of the pickup truck.

State police have not said if anyone is in custody.

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