New details revealed about ‘severely decomposed’ body found near I-80 in California
Northern California law enforcement officials released new details Wednesday about the human remains found “severely decomposed” along Interstate 80 in March, but authorities are still working to identify the body.
A 911 caller on the evening of March 27 reported finding the body off of Farad Road and I-80, several miles east of Truckee, the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement at the time. The area is near the Tahoe Pyramid Trail in the Sierra Nevada.
A preliminary investigation has determined the remains are likely those of a white woman between the ages of 30 and 70 years old, the Sheriff’s Office said in a Wednesday update.
She likely died in 2022 or 2023, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
The woman has been estimated at a height of between 5-foot-1 and 5-foot-6, and she had short- to medium-length brown hair, sheriff’s officials said. Her eye color and weight remain unknown.
Sheriff’s officials said the woman may have had a tattoo on the left side of her lower back, “but it was not identifiable.”
Investigators are awaiting further DNA analysis to assist in identifying the body. An FBI evidence response team, an anthropologist from the California State University, Chico, Human Identification Lab, the Nevada County Search and Rescue Evidence Team and sheriff’s detectives responded to the scene following the discovery of the remains, which were quickly confirmed as human.
This story was originally published May 31, 2023 at 9:57 AM.
