Woman Slain Weeks Ago, Autopsy Finds

The woman whose body was found Tuesday in rural San Benito County was stabbed to death four to six weeks ago, authorities said Friday. Forensics specialists from UC Santa Cruz were examining the remains to try to determine her age and race, Undersheriff Curtis Hill said. Children came upon the decomposed body in a cattle ranching area north of Hollister. Federal agents believed that the dark-haired young woman might be 13-year-old Christina Williams, who vanished while walking her dog at Ft. Ord on June 12. But dental records showed that the body was not Christina’s, and investigators also ruled out Kristen Modafferi, 18, who disappeared from San Francisco a year ago. A preliminary autopsy showed that the woman found this week could be 15 to 35, was 5-foot-2 to 5-foot-4 and weighed 95 to 125 pounds, Hill said. She had dark brown hair and was wearing a black top. “The autopsy revealed she had been stabbed but did not reveal [whether] she was raped,” Hill said. “But we feel this may be a rape-murder.”