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Sheriff's Office Trying To Identify Victim

BODY FOUND IN LORIDA CITRUS GROVE

Courtesy photo by HIGHLANDS COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE

This is the composite photograph of what an unidentified woman who was found dead in a Lorida orange grove Monday looked like in real life.Digital photography experts at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children assisted the Highlands County Sheriff’s Office in creating the photograph. Authorities are looking for leads on the woman’s identity and are treating the case as a homicide.

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By BRAD DICKERSON

Highlands Today

Published: October 15, 2008

LORIDA The Highlands County Sheriff's Office is still seeking the identity of a woman found dead Monday in a citrus grove near Buckhorn Road in Lorida.

"We're still hoping to get a citizen who can provide us information in that regard, (or) a loved one or friend," said Lt. Tim Lethbridge, with the Criminal Investigations Unit, on Tuesday.

The victim was listed as between 45 to 60 years of age, of apparent Hispanic ethnicity, 4 foot 10 inches tall and 123 pounds. She also had short, black, graying hair and was found dressed in shorts and a T-shirt.

Foul play is suspected in the case and it is being worked as a homicide. Lethbridge said no information is being released at this time as to the cause of death. For the time being, the first focus of the investigation is identifying the victim.

"From there, we'll be much more able to generate leads as to who might be responsible for her death," Lethbridge said.

As deputies continue their investigation into the identity of the Lorida victim, one HCSO detective is dedicated to unsolved murders. The most prominent is the case of Sue Feathers, a Lake Placid dry cleaner owner who was found dead in her place of business in 2003.

Lethbridge said the Feathers murder is considered a cold case, since the detective presently assigned to it was not the original investigator.

The Highlands County Sheriff's Office only has homicides as cold cases. An unsolved burglary or other such felony would simply be considered inactive, according to Lethbridge.

While the definition can vary from agency to agency, the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) defines a cold case as "any case whose probative investigative leads have been exhausted."

The popularity of television crime dramas and advances in DNA technology have helped bring added attention to cold cases, according to the NIJ.

Sebring Police Commander Steve Carr said DNA evidence has played a role in one of two homicide cold cases they are investigating, although he could not go into specifics about that evidence.

Officers with the Avon Park Police Department are presently not investigating any such cases, according to Commander Mike Rowan.

Like the HCSO, Rowan said the primary cold cases his agency works are homicides.

"Burglaries and some of the other felony cases have a statute of limitations, while homicides and sexual assault or battery don't," he said.

Florida statutes state that prosecutions for a felony of the first degree must be commenced within four years after it is committed. Any other felony must be commenced within three years.

A prosecution for a capital or life felony, or a felony that resulted in death, can be held at any time, according to statutes.

In his part of the world, Rowan recalls a cold case that first happened 25 years ago. The initial complaint was that a subject had been shot in the leg by another person.

It did not start out as a homicide, but became one after the victim died in the hospital from an infection, according to Rowan.

"Nothing has been brought to light since," he said.

Anyone with information into the identity of the Lorida victim can call the sheriff's office at 863-402-7200. Information can also be sent to Heartland Crime Stoppers at 800-226-TIPS.

Callers to Crime Stoppers may remain anonymous and be eligible for a reward.

Brad Dickerson can be reached at (863) 386-5838 or bdickerson@highlandstoday.com.

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