FERGUSON TOWNSHIP — Ferguson Township police think the still-unidentified woman whose body was found on Feb. 14 along the 500 block of Plainfield Road was dumped out of a vehicle and abandoned there.
According to police, “There are no indications that the woman walked on her own to the place where she was found.”
Police said they believe the woman’s body was dumped between 11 p.m. on Feb. 12 and 3:20 a.m. on Feb. 14 when a passerby found the body and called the police.
Centre County coroner Scott Sayers conducted an autopsy of the woman’s body the day after she was found. The autopsy did not yield an immediate cause of death and found no signs of traumatic injury.
A Ferguson Township police press release said toxicology tests are pending, but will not become available for several weeks.
According to the same press release, police have yet to uncover the woman’s identity, but they have received “some promising leads.” The department said they would work with the coroner’s office to contact the woman’s family before notifying the public of her identify, when and if she is identified.
Ferguson Township police did release a description of the victim and photos of her tattoos the day her body was found in the hopes of receiving information that could lead to her identification.
The Feb. 14 press release said that the woman was a white female, possibly 18 to 35 years old, with short brown hair and tattoos on her lower arms and legs. One of the leg tattoos is the word “Breeze.” The woman was wearing gray sweatpants and a dark gray, long-sleeved thermal shirt. She was also wearing a black and yellow band on her left-hand ring finger.
The discovery comes just weeks after Ferguson Township police responded to the death of 60-year-old Pine Grove Mills resident Jean Tuggy, whose death was ruled an intentional homicide.
However, police said they do not believe this death is related to Tuggy’s unsolved murder.
Her body was found on Jan. 21 by two friends in her Irion Street home and there is a $5,000 reward for tips leading to the arrest of Tuggy’s killer. To submit a tip, email Centre County Crimestoppers at tip@centrecountycrimestopper.org.
Anyone who may know the identity or have information regarding the death of the woman found on the side of Plainfield Road is asked to call police at (800) 479-0050.
Ferguson Township Police Chief Diana Conrad said she was not able to give information to supplement what was reported in the department’s Feb. 14 and Feb. 16 press releases.
