LAKE COUNTY, Fla. — Lake County detectives are hoping to identify a young woman in a 34-year-old cold case who they think was likely a homicide victim.
- Lake Co. investigators try to ID ‘Judy Doe’ in cold case
- They believe she is likely a homicide victim
On April 18, 1984, a decomposed body was found off of a dirt road in Altoona in the Lake Dorr recreation area of the Ocala National Forest.
Authorities are calling this case "Judy Doe" because the man who found the body lived in the area and said her name was 'Judy,' and that she had hitchhiked from California.
He said he hung out with her, was a person of interest in the original investigation and cleared as a suspect after he passed a polygraph.
People in the area also said there was a woman who matched the description that was seen in the area a few weeks before the body was found.
"Judy Doe" is between 17 and 20 years old, about 5'0", and about 100 pounds. She had long, straight light brown hair and was missing two upper teeth and had a chipped tooth.
Her fingernails were painted coral/orange color and she was wearing blue jeans and a long night shirt that said, "Have you Kissed Your Child Tonight." She was also wearing tan canvas slip on shoes with blue trim and a metal necklace.
Another shirt with the saying, "Here comes trouble" was found near the body.
"A lot of the cold case victims, some of them are unidentified, so they don’t have families to speak for them, you know, to call us every day and say, 'Hey what's going on with my loved ones case?' and so we have to do that for them," said Sgt. Tamara Dale with the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
If you have any information you're asked to call 352-343-9529 or Crimeline at 1-800-423-TIPS.