Dead Woman’s Identity Sought

Authorities asked for the public’s help Wednesday in identifying a woman whose body was found dumped off the side of Ortega Highway in Orange County, about three miles from the Riverside County line.

An autopsy completed Wednesday was inconclusive and toxicology tests will be needed to determine the cause of death, county coroner’s officials said. The results could take up to six weeks.

The woman’s fully clothed body was discovered Tuesday just outside Ronald W. Caspers Wilderness Park, in the Cleveland National Forest, by two sightseers who stopped at a turnout on Ortega Highway to admire the scenery.

Her body was spotted about nine feet down an embankment, in the open, officials said. She may have been dead up to two days when found.

“Her feet had no indication that she walked there,” said Jim Amormino, spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. “She was barefoot and there were no marks, dirt or rocks on her feet. It’s consistent with a body dump.”

He said it’s unlikely the woman jumped to her death because the hillside does not have a steep grade, making fatal injuries improbable.

The woman is described as Latina, in her mid-30s, about 5 foot 3 and weighing about 105.

She had long, brown hair; a left forearm tattoo of a rose above a spider web; and freshly manicured acrylic nails with white hearts on the tips, officials said.

“We’re hoping the public can help us; maybe her manicurist knows who she is,” Amormino said.

Investigators have searched state databases with her fingerprints and DNA, but there were no matches, Amormino said. Officials have also pored over missing-persons reports from several counties, none of which matched her description.

The body was found less than a mile from the spot where hikers three years ago found the body of a woman whose head and hands had been cut off. One of the woman’s sons was convicted of her murder.