Vegas police seek to ID teen girl found dead, burned between two walls
LAS VEGAS – Police are seeking the public’s help to identify a teen girl whose body was found burned and hidden between two walls at an apartment complex, reports the Las Vegas Review Journal.
According to CBS affiliate KLAS, Officer Laura Meltzer said Monday that a resident in the area found the body Saturday morning after noticing burn marks on a wall in a remote corner of the complex.
Metro Police released a composite sketch of the teen and an autopsy of the body is being conducted by the Clark County Coroner’s office to determine how she died. Police are calling it a homicide, reports the Review Journal.
Meltzer says the teen was female, about 5-foot-4 and 100 pounds. She appeared to have been between 16 and 20 years old.
The Review Journal reports that police believe her body was dumped and set ablaze, possibly with the use of an accelerant.
In their quest to identify the victim, Metropolitan Police Department Lt. Dan McGrath told the newspaper that police are looking into missing persons and runaway reports “because juveniles don’t usually have criminal records or fingerprints in the system.”
Anyone with any information about the identity of the victim, or anyone with any information about this case, is urged to contact the LVMPD Homicide Section by phone at 702-828-3521, or by email at homicide@lvmpd.com. To remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers by phone at 702-385-5555, on the internet at www.crimestoppersofnv.com, or text CRIMENV plus tip information to 274637 (CRIMES). Tips leading directly to an arrest or indictment processed through Crime Stoppers may be eligible for a cash reward.
