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Woman's Body, Discovered Burned And Naked In 1995, Finally ID'd
Photo courtesy of the Sheriff's Department
It took 17 years, but a woman's body that had been stripped nude, put in a sleeping bag, set on fire and thrown over an embankment in Covina has finally been identified.Using DNA evidence, the woman has been identified as Gail Catherine Allen, a woman who split her time between Morro Bay and Victorville and would have been 20 at the time of her death, according to a release from sheriff's deputies. Now they're asking for the public's help in finding out what exactly might have happened to Allen in her final hours.
Allen's body was discovered on on October 28, 1995 in an unincorporated area of Covina. Her body had been charred beyond recognition, so it was difficult for there to be any sort of positive identification. So, until this week, she was known only as Jane Doe #59.
She was reported as missing to the Redlands Police Department by a friend. At the time, it is believed that she had been living in Morro Bay and working at a local Taco Bell. She was living with her 2-year-old daughter Katie Detar and the child's father Marquis Detar.
Their relationship was strained. She was also friends with an unknown male known as "Cowboy," and Detar last saw Allen getting into the car of a 1995 Camaro of another male friend. Shortly before, she had collected her belongings at the apartment she shared with Detar.
Here's the press conference where Sheriff's deputies made the announcement:
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