Mother, 20, Found Apparently Strangled

The body of a 20-year-old woman who apparently had been strangled was found Monday in her Anaheim apartment along with her surviving 2-year-old son, who was bound at the wrists, authorities said.

Catherine Ann Tameny was found nude in her bed about 10:15 a.m. by her parents, who had gone to her apartment in the 100 block of Syracuse Street to investigate why she hadn’t come to work or answered her telephone, according to Anaheim Police Lt. Stan Kantor.

The couple, Mr. and Mrs. John P. McCoy of Garden Grove, also discovered their grandson, Nicholas, standing in the apartment kitchen with cord wrapped around his wrists, Kantor said. The youngster was taken to Humana Hospital West in Anaheim, where he was treated for a severely swollen lip and was released to the grandparents.

Believing that the victim’s car may have been stolen by her killer, police put out a law enforcement alert for her 1978 Oldsmobile Cutlass, license number 730 UPW, which had been lent to her by her parents. The car is maroon with the name “Dick” scratched into the right rear fender, police said.

Investigators said the woman appeared to have been killed sometime in the early morning hours Monday. An autopsy was planned today to determine the cause of death, which investigators said appeared to be strangulation. Tests also were scheduled to determine whether the victim had been raped, police said.

Sgt. John Haradon said there was no sign of forced entry to the ground-level apartment. The victim’s estranged husband was questioned but not detained, Haradon said. His name was not released.