CA - Stephanie Fedorka, 29, found murdered in the Colorado River, 15 Oct 2014

The Yuma County Sheriff's Office has identified the body of a woman that was found floating in the Colorado River at approximately South Avenue 6½ E in October. The woman has been positively identified as Stephanie Fedorka, 29, of Yuma...

Investigators for YCSO were present at the Pima County Medical Examiner's Office in October during an autopsy on Fedorka, when the cause of death was determined to have been a single gunshot wound to the chest.

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On Wednesday, October 15, at approximately 11:20 a.m., the Yuma County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of a deceased person in the Colorado River at approximately South Avenue 6 ½ E. YCSO, with the assistance of United States Border Patrol BORSTAR, recovered the remains of Fedorka...

On October 19, YCSO Investigators, Search and Rescue Unit, and Sheriff’s Posse, along with the Imperial County Sheriff’s Office and the De Anza Search and Rescue Unit, searched the area of the Colorado River for numerous hours--on both the Arizona and California side--where the victim was found for any signs of a crime scene or evidence.

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Zavala said Fedorka’s body may have been in the water for three to five days. She was found wearing blue jeans and an orange tank top. Zavala said no one had reported Fedorka missing.

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According to Yuma County Sheriff's Office spokesman Alfonzo Zavala, the arrest of Joseph Franklin Smith in the murder of 29-year-old Stephanie Fedorka was the result of a collaborative investigation between YCSO and the Imperial County Sheriff's Office...

Deputies from the Yuma sheriff's office began working the case and after four months located the crime scene and key pieces of evidence in Bard and turned the investigation over to Imperial County deputies.

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