Identified! WA - King Co., Skull in Auburn creek, 2002 - Darlene Campos

SheWhoMustNotBeNamed

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Skull found in Auburn creek during road work

Highway workers dredging an Auburn creek stumbled across a human skull yesterday, prompting concern that yet another victim of the Green River Killer had been discovered.

[snip]

Workers with the state Department of Transportation were dredging an area of Mill Creek -- a tributary of the Green River -- along West Valley Highway near an onramp to eastbound state Route 18.

[snip]

The skull was handed over to the King County Medical Examiner's Office, which will try to determine the gender of the person and how he or she died, Karnofski said.

Investigators worked into the evening yesterday hoping to find the rest of the body or other skeletal remains.

[snip]

Detectives do not know whether the skull is from remains left where it was discovered, or whether it had washed downstream.

The Green River slayings included the deaths of 49 women in the early 1980s around the Puget Sound area and in Oregon.

More: http://www.seattlepi.com/local/55680_skullx24.shtml
 
Thanks Cubby.

This story has nothing to do with the Green River Killer but she deserves her name, so, here's the story:

camposmug.jpg

Photo source: http://www.seattlepi.com/local/226320_missing30.html

Police seek clues to human skull
Discovery of young woman's remains spurs check of missing-person files
Saturday, January 26, 2002
By HECTOR CASTRO
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
A skull found earlier this week in an Auburn creek appears to be that of a young white woman.
Yesterday, detectives found a partial human pelvis in an area of Mill Creek where the skull was found on Wednesday, which allowed investigators to finally determine the gender of the remains.
...
The investigation began on Wednesday, when state highway workers unloading a dump truck full of muck dredged from Mill Creek at state Route 18 and the West Valley Highway found the skull.
The next day, detectives screening more debris taken from the creek discovered pieces of a backbone at a dump yard. They also found jeans, shoes and socks upstream from where the skull was found, though it's unknown whether the clothing is related to the remains.
Yesterday, state workers dredged deeper in the pooled area of the creek where the skull was found.
...
The person apparently had part of a root canal done, but the work was not completed. Police are asking local dental offices to review their records for any patients within the past two years who may have failed to return to complete root-canal work.


Sunday, March 10, 2002
Leg discovered in Mill Creek near Auburn
By Jim Brunner
Seattle Times staff reporter

Fishermen discovered a decomposing human leg in the muck of Auburn's Mill Creek yesterday, about a mile from where a skull was found in January, authorities said.
…
The discovery was made around 3 p.m. yesterday.
In January, a road crew dredged up a skull from the bottom of Mill Creek, near the junction of Highway 18 and West Valley Highway. Police also found human vertebrae nearby.
An Auburn police spokeswoman said yesterday the skull had not yet been identified, but police said earlier it probably belonged to a young adult, under 30 years old.

Legs, skull from same victim

Apr 05 2002
King County Sheriff detectives believe two sets of remains found less than a mile apart in Peasley Canyon came from the same woman.
Detectives are now investigating the case as a criminal homicide.
State Department of Transportation workers noticed the first set of remains on Jan. 23 off the West Valley High-way near the State Route 167 ramp. Sheriff’s officers, Auburn Police and divers with King County Search and Rescue found a skull and two vertebrae at the site.
Four teeth remained in the skull, which showed a temporary filling and partial root canal, authorities said.
On March 9, a fisherman told Auburn Police he saw what appeared to be human legs in Mill Creek. Investigators removed the legs, partially clad in hiking-style boots, from the creek.

Sometimes, investigators identify someone through luck. Taylor recently studied the remains of a woman found in Peasley Canyon near Auburn. All Taylor had to go on was a cranium and a few bones. The skeletal areas to which her neck muscles attached were large, suggesting a muscular neck. Taylor estimated she was big-boned and between 5 foot 6 and 5 foot 10. MUPU did not furnish a match. Taylor began trolling the North American Missing Persons Network (www.nampn.doenetwork.us). She looked through the Washington list, and when she got to the year 2001, the first picture that popped up was of the woman she imagined. It was Darlene Campos of Lakewood.
"Her mother told me she didn't want to leave her apartment for like a year because she was so sure she was going to call and she didn't want to miss it," says Taylor, who informed her. "I've had mothers say they go to bed every night wondering, does she have her mittens, a roof over her head, is she eating OK, is she lonely? When they get a call from me it isn't very good news, but that cycle can stop and they can start to mourn and move on to the next stage."

Missing-person Web site solves mystery for family
By HECTOR CASTRO
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
Darlene Campos disappeared in 2001, last seen at a family party in Lakewood.
The following year, the remains of a woman were discovered along a creek in the Peasley Canyon area near Auburn.

It was another three years before a King County medical investigator was able to connect the name to the body. Her work solved the mystery of the unknown remains, gave some relief to Campos' family, and led to the arrest of a suspect in her killing.
...
DNA testing ultimately confirmed that the Peasley Canyon Woman was Campos. But Taylor said she didn't need DNA to tell her what she knew in her gut. "As soon as her picture popped up, I knew it was her," she said.
...
Since that connection was made, King County detectives have arrested Campos' former boyfriend, Tomas Sanchez-Ramirez. Court documents say he admitted strangling Campos during an argument and dumping her near Auburn's Mill Creek.
He is in California awaiting extradition to Washington to face charges of second-degree murder.

Links:
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/61699_search11.shtml?dpfrom=thead
http://www.komonews.com/news/archive/4035621.html
http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/south_king/fwm/news/19895079.html?period=W&mpStartDate=01-10-2011#
http://www.nampn.org/media/articles/story8.html
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/226320_missing30.html
 

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