ID sought for woman's body found in pond

ID sought for woman’s body found in pond

Posted by ChaddsFordLive on May 31, 2016

A grisly discovery interrupted the mix of Memorial Day festivities in Chester County.

The victim was wearing long print shorts (from left) and a gray t-shirt. — Police said the victim was wearing long print shorts (from left) and a short-sleeve shirt.

Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan said in a press release that police responded on Monday, May 30, at approximately 11:15 a.m. to an East Coventry Township pond, where a woman’s body had been tied to a cinder block.

“Sadly, somebody threw this woman away like a piece of trash,” said Hogan in the release. “Our first job is to identify the victim. Then we will find out how she died and who was involved.”

One of the victim's rings depicts an anchor while the other features a horse.

Hogan said a citizen reported seeing a body in a pond off of Zeiber Road in East Coventry. Although the area is isolated and rural, the pond is a popular swimming and fishing hole that is part of Pigeon Creek.

The East Coventry Police Department, Chester County Detectives, Chester County Coroner’s Office, and fire departments responded to the area. When they attempted to retrieve the body from the water, they discovered it was tied to a cinder block on the bottom of the pond, Hogan said in the release.

This tattoo was on the victim's left shoulder, authorities say.

The woman’s body and the cinder block eventually were removed, and interviews of people in the area revealed that children had been swimming in the pond the afternoon before, so the body had been dropped off in the interim time period, Hogan said in the release.

He described the victim as an African-American female with short hair, approximately 25 to 35 years old, about 5-foot-6 and 130 pounds. She was dressed in long shorts and a short-sleeved shirt, without any shoes. She had a tattoo on her left shoulder, bracelets on both wrists, and rings on her fingers that featured a horse and an anchor.

The victim wore these bracelets on each wrist, according to police.

The body had no gunshot wounds or signs of blunt force trauma or strangulation, Hogan said, noting that an autopsy was performed Monday night and did not reveal the immediate cause of death. An absence of water in the victim's lungs indicated that she did not drown and was dead when she was placed in the water. He said his office is awaiting the results of toxicology tests.

Hogan urged anyone with information on the ongoing investigation to contact Chester County Detective Sgt. Tom Goggin at 610-344-6866.