Woman Jailed After Body Found Behind Thrift Store
PORT HURON TWP. (WWJ/AP) - A 49-year-old Oregon woman who authorities say is believed to have dumped the body of an elderly woman behind a Michigan thrift store is being held at an Illinois jail.
The St. Clair County Sheriff's Department said the woman from Salem, Ore., was held after being located in Belleville, Ill. The woman, whose name wasn't immediately released, is jailed pending further court action.
The body of a roughly 80-year-old woman was found March 12. The sheriff's department said the body was hidden for more than a week under snow and blankets behind the store the Goodwill store in Port Huron Township, about 55 miles northeast of Detroit.
Police say the body was found by a worker who was cleaning the area. Detectives reviewed surveillance video from the store and determined the woman's body had been outside since at least March 3.
Investigators have been seeking the public's help in identifying the dead woman since earlier this month. The cause of her death hasn't been determined.
The woman is described as white, about 80 years old, about 5 feet tall and weighing about 100 to 110 pounds. She has grey, shoulder-length hair and dark eyes. She had a mastectomy and has two surgical scars on her stomach. She was wearing an Indian-print type skirt and a black, white and red blouse.
Anyone with information that could help investigators identify the woman is asked to contact St. Clair County Sheriff's Detective Eric Stevens at 810-987-1726 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP.
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