Advertisement

Woman found dead in Anaheim was likely dumped in trash, officials say

Share via

A woman found dead on a conveyor belt at an Anaheim trash collection center was probably dumped in a garbage can or bin and then delivered to the plant by a trash truck, authorities said.

Police identified the woman Saturday as Jarrae Nikole Estepp, 21, using fingerprint records, said Tim Schmidt, spokesman for the Anaheim Police Department.

An employee of the plant discovered her body under some trash at the Anaheim garbage center. Police are treating her death as a homicide, Schmidt said.

Advertisement

Estepp was a resident of Empire, a tiny community outside Modesto, according to the Orange County coroner’s office. She also had past addresses in Modesto and Oklahoma, authorities said.

In Oklahoma, Estepp was arrested multiple times and convicted at least once for prostitution, according to online arrest and court records. As recently as January she was arrested in Elk City, Okla. on suspicion of petty larceny.

Those records show a different spelling of Estepp’s middle name, but Schmidt said it was the same woman.

Advertisement

frank.shyong@latimes.com

Twitter: @frankshyong

Advertisement