Investigators Hope Facial Reconstruction Models Identify Cold Case Victim

By Gan Matthews, NEWS 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Twenty-nine years after the skeletal remains of a woman were found in a Norman cow pasture, the Medical Examiner's office has released a facial reconstruction of the woman.

On April 16, 1981, a high school student looking for snakes found the skeletal remains of a woman.

A brief news story appeared the next day. After that almost nothing about the remains was discussed, until now.

The M.E.'s office ordered up the facial reconstruction as part of a newly-funded effort to clear up the unidentified remains cases. There are about 100 cases on the list, and the Norman case was near the top.

The reconstruction reveals the face of a Caucasian woman, between 31 and 45 years of age, with no teeth. The remains do not match any missing person's case on file, but her death may have involved foul play.

"We believe there may have been some blunt force trauma to the head," said M.E. Spokesperson Cherokee Ballard. "So certainly it is a mystery and potentially a violent crime."

Anyone who recognizes the woman is urged to call the M.E.'s office or the Cleveland County Sheriff.

"Until we get additional information that's possibly found for the original case, we're gonna have to work this from the ground up, just like it's a brand new case," said Cleveland County Undersheriff Rhett Burnett.