Identified! IN - Angola, WhtFem, 180UFIN, 30-50, Pachuco Cross tattoo, Sept 1999 - Tina Cabanaw

Dark Knight

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Maybe someone here can help us finally solve this case. The body was found not too far from the radio station where I work and I was there when it all went down, and tried my best, along with our news director and many others, to try and solve it. I'd love ANY info I can pass along to authorities, including maybe what in the heck the tattoos or jewelry might mean, if anything, and I can fill you in on details of the investigation beyond what the FBI is listing here:

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/180ufin.html
The place she was found is now a golf course, except the exact spot was undeveloped. It had been a farm field, and the guy who found here while plowing his field later died of a heart attack also while plowing the field! *makes spooky noises* lol

PS: I do remember one of the victim's tattoos supposedly meaning something about living on the fringe of society.

Thanks!!!
180UFIN.jpg

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/180ufin.html
Case File 180UFIN
•Located on September 6, 1999 in Angola, Steuben County, Indiana.
•Cause of death is undetermined, believed to be homicide.
•The estimated time of death is 30 - 90 days prior to discovery.
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Steuben County Sheriff's Department
Detective Dale Murray
260-668-1000
 
Are you with Doe Network, Dark Knight? I work with several on their team.

Sadly, many are never reported missing, and this is the result. Education is so important, and everyone should report their missing loved ones, even if they are adults, or else the NCIC system will never work. Also many states have a shortage of persons to check NCIC files daily, and some states do not even have a database. *sigh*

Also, more volunteers are needed to match Does across the nation, as many go unmatched for years. Case in point, Joseph Morse went unidentified for over four years, even though he was found the day after he went missing.

Welcome to WS and please join us in the missing forum, sometime
Missing!! - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community

You never know, you may recognize one and reunite a family!

Thank you for caring about the missing, Dark Knight and God bless you!
E-mail me if you wish to get updates on the missing, or my newsletters.
Let's hope someone see this post and can identify this lady.

With love and HOPE, Lanie
Help For The Missing
HelpForTheMissing@yahoo.com
 
How far was the body from a road? Do the authorities know how she was dumped? How easy was the site to get to from I-69? Nearest truck stop?

The tatoo was obviously crudely done and its a been popular among Hispanics for many years. Since she is listed as "white" I wonder if she once was married to a Hispanic or had a Hispanic boyfriend - maybe in the CA or TX area.

Did the autospy provide any clues? Condition of liver?
 
WasBlind said:
Are you with Doe Network, Dark Knight? I work with several on their team.

Sadly, many are never reported missing, and this is the result. Education is so important, and everyone should report their missing loved ones, even if they are adults, or else the NCIC system will never work. Also many states have a shortage of persons to check NCIC files daily, and some states do not even have a database. *sigh*

Also, more volunteers are needed to match Does across the nation, as many go unmatched for years. Case in point, Joseph Morse went unidentified for over four years, even though he was found the day after he went missing.

Welcome to WS and please join us in the missing forum, sometime
http://websleuths.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=16

You never know, you may recognize one and reunite a family!

Thank you for caring about the missing, Dark Knight and God bless you!
E-mail me if you wish to get updates on the missing, or my newsletters.
Let's hope someone see this post and can identify this lady.

With love and HOPE, Lanie
Help For The Missing
HelpForTheMissing@yahoo.com
No, I am not with the Doe Network. Maybe you can post the info for those of us on the board who aren't familiar with it but might like to join. I am always willing to help find the missing, plus justice for the dead. I'll also likely be in contact about the other info you offered. Thank you very much for your help!!!!!
 
Bibliophile said:
How far was the body from a road? Do the authorities know how she was dumped? How easy was the site to get to from I-69? Nearest truck stop?

The tatoo was obviously crudely done and its a been popular among Hispanics for many years. Since she is listed as "white" I wonder if she once was married to a Hispanic or had a Hispanic boyfriend - maybe in the CA or TX area.

Did the autospy provide any clues? Condition of liver?
We have a growing Hispanic popullation in my area, actually. That's the first time I have heard of the tattoo mentioned in association with them.

The body is within less than a mile of one, and probably more, off-ramps of I-69, and not far from the off-ramps of the Indiana/Michigan toll road. Police speculated that she may have been a prostitute due to the tattoo being associated with criminal elements and the fact there are many truck stops in the area due to the semi traffic that comes through. However, I question that she came from far away, as the bra was still around her neck. Why would someone strangle her, then drive the entire way with the bra still around her neck? And why leave it that way, then?The body itself was well off the any road, though, was was severely decomposed (I saw some of the pictures, being in the media.) They got the drawing only after the FBI in Washington made a clay model of her head and theorized how she looked alive.

The autopsy was inconclusive on most everything due to the state of decomposition, the liver may not have been viable even. Why do you ask of the liver, I am curious.

Good point about the tattoo, it does appear to be homemade, doesn't it?
 
Dark Knight said:
We have a growing Hispanic popullation in my area, actually. That's the first time I have heard of the tattoo mentioned in association with them.

Yes, it was common among Hispanic youth, even 35 -45 years ago. The term "pachuco" comes from a nickname for the city of El Paso, which was often referred to as "El Pachuco" or simply "El Chuco". Groups of youth from El Paso migrated to Los Angeles in the 1930s and they were referred to there as pachucos. There are some reports that the tatoos are common among gang members. However, if this is a woman 40 to 50 years old, I doubt that she was in a gang. It's more likely (though not absolute) that she received the tatoo in her younger days and that's why I mentioned CA and TX, both of which had higher Hispanic populations in the late 70's. She may have originated from an area where the tatoos were more common.

The body is within less than a mile of one, and probably more, off-ramps of I-69, and not far from the off-ramps of the Indiana/Michigan toll road.

I'm wondering how easy it would have been to dump her from a car and if the locale was a place that could be easily found by non-residents or those unfamilar with the area.

If its a remote location, its probably a local perp.

Police speculated that she may have been a prostitute due to the tattoo being associated with criminal elements and the fact there are many truck stops in the area due to the semi traffic that comes through. However, I question that she came from far away, as the bra was still around her neck. Why would someone strangle her, then drive the entire way with the bra still around her neck?

She could have been picked up, murdered in one location and transported there to conceal her body. She may have very well been a prostitute or vagabond type that goes from place to place. Sadly, no one may be looking for her.

Most likely scenario is that she was undressed when the murder occurred and the killer merely used the bra because it was convenient to strangle her. He probably then put her in a vehicle and took her body to the site where she was found. He made no other efforts to conceal it because he just wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible. Probably a disorganized killing.

Bras are commonly used for strangulation in sex murders.

They got the drawing only after the FBI in Washington made a clay model of her head and theorized how she looked alive.

So its probably not a very good likeness.

The autopsy was inconclusive on most everything due to the state of decomposition, the liver may not have been viable even. Why do you ask of the liver, I am curious.

It would tell a lot about her life style; drug and alcohol abuse.
 
Actually, a local TV crew went to the FBI office when they did this, and said that their recreations are amazingly close to what they did look like! (based on cases that had been solved as a result.) So I think it may be reasonably close.

Interesting info on the tattoo, thanks! I agree that it is most likely that no one is looking for her.

There was a LOT of interest in her watch and possibly the other jewelery, but not real sure why. Any ideas?

Thanks, again, for the help!!

PS: I just a bit more research on the pachuco cross tattoo, and the hispanic gang members that wear it are supposed to tattoo it in the web of their hands between their finger and thumb, and hers was on her upper arm. And as you said, she was supposed to be white.
 
Dark Knight said:
Actually, a local TV crew went to the FBI office when they did this, and said that their recreations are amazingly close to what they did look like! (based on cases that had been solved as a result.) So I think it may be reasonably close.

It very well may be. Let me preface this with I am not at all knocking them as a tool in identification - they can be very valuable. However, the likenesses are often most apparent retrospectively. For a Doe that didn't have close ties to a community or family, someone who could easily pick up the subtle nuances of her features, it's just more difficult.

There was a LOT of interest in her watch and possibly the other jewelery, but not real sure why. Any ideas?

It's hard to say for the photos. I get the feeling that the ring was something she had had for a while. It would be good to know the manufacturer of the watch, area of distribution, etc..

It's just hard to know without more details, so I'm just thinking out loud here, I may be totally off base.

One thing I am not clear on - was there any type of road near the body, dirt, gravel or otherwise, that someone could have driven a vehicle on? If so, was there a clearly visable entrance to this road from a main road? Would someone have to know the area well to get to the location where the body was found?
 
I think it is GREAT that you are trying for all different angles and asking all kinds of great questions! That's the only way to solve cases like this, and I appreciate the effort! I sent to info on the cross to the sheriff, just in case they weren't aware of it's history. I'll let you know if I hear back.

The body was quite a ways off of a country road, if I recall, in a farmers field, which is how it was found, by the farmer plowing the field. He thought it was a deer carcass, I remember him saying.
 
If it was quite a distance to the nearest road, has there been any speculation on how the body got there?

How accessible would it be by 4WD? Or a farm "John Deere" all terrain vehicle?

Again, I am just guessing - but providing there were no access roads and from what you have written I would guess it was a local perp - someone who knew the land, perhaps someone who had hunted on it before ... maybe a near neighbor or someone in or close to the owner's family.
 
WasBlind said:
http://doenetwork.org/

This one will not be listed there, yet, as they take 9 years and older as of now.

Please contact me via e-mail to get started working on this, please sir.
Actually, they took my submission because for unexplained deaths the criteria was only 2002 or older! Woo hoo! Thanks for the tip! We'll see if I hear back from them.
 
My husband lived in Angola for a few years, and he told me that the town itself has a small population, but there are a lot of lakes surrounded by summer cottages, and the population grows a lot during the summer. I wonder if she could've been murdered by an abusive husband/boyfriend vacationing in the area, or picked up somewhere by a lone guy going to spend some time at his cottage?

Given that many think the killer was familiar with the area, and the timing of the crime, (about 5 weeks before september), it might make sense that one of the vacationers had something to do with this.

Was her picture published much in the Indy area?
 
chocolatechance said:
My husband lived in Angola for a few years, and he told me that the town itself has a small population, but there are a lot of lakes surrounded by summer cottages, and the population grows a lot during the summer. I wonder if she could've been murdered by an abusive husband/boyfriend vacationing in the area, or picked up somewhere by a lone guy going to spend some time at his cottage?

Given that many think the killer was familiar with the area, and the timing of the crime, (about 5 weeks before september), it might make sense that one of the vacationers had something to do with this.

Was her picture published much in the Indy area?

Hmmm, that's a very interesting point. You are correct, Steuben County has 101 lakes, so our population swells to over 100,000 on summer weekends, and 2-3 times that on a holiday weekend (July 4 was about 4 weeks prior to the finding, actually.)

The picture was on Ft. Wayne television both originally and in a follow up about a year or two ago, which is where many of our tourists come from. I don't know about Indy TV or newspapers, though.

Thanks for the input! A terrific theory!
 
hi Dark Knight...since you asked me to read and comment, i will offer ONLY MY OPINION/EDUCATED GUESS. she was a hooker/hitch-hiker in all likelihood, and frequented truck stops. she was the victim of a common garden-variety American phenomena...the traveling/trucker serial killer. there are so many out there it would scare the pants off you if you knew how many. they work with impunity and vanish into the night. it has all the earmarks. and there was no connection between them because he did not attempt to bury her or remove identifying jewelry. these guys do it because they can and because it's easy pickings. they know they won't be caught. it's 'fun', spices up life on the otherwise boring road. JMO :twocents:
 
deputylinda said:
hi Dark Knight...since you asked me to read and comment, i will offer ONLY MY OPINION/EDUCATED GUESS. she was a hooker/hitch-hiker in all likelihood, and frequented truck stops. she was the victim of a common garden-variety American phenomena...the traveling/trucker serial killer. there are so many out there it would scare the pants off you if you knew how many. they work with impunity and vanish into the night. it has all the earmarks. and there was no connection between them because he did not attempt to bury her or remove identifying jewelry. these guys do it because they can and because it's easy pickings. they know they won't be caught. it's 'fun', spices up life on the otherwise boring road. JMO :twocents:


I agree 100% Linda.

I know there are some honest,decent truckers out there * BUT* there is also a very large,very scary and violent trucker subculture.
Ive heard about unspeakable things(worse than that movie"Breakdown") which occur way more than most people know because they lead this nomadic life crisscrossing the country.
I can't put it better than DL's " they work with impunity".
 

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