Artistic renderings of the victim (NCMEC and Samantha Steinberg)
Artistic renderings of the victim (NCMEC and Samantha Steinberg)
Date of Discovery: November 5, 1980
Location of Discovery: Daytona Beach, Volusia County, Florida
Estimated Date of Death: 3 to 6 weeks prior
State of Remains: Not recognizable - Partial skeletal parts only
Cause of Death: Homicide - Evidence of multiple sharp force injuries.
Estimated Age: 15-24 years old
Race: Unsure - Black/White and probably Hispanic
Gender: Female
Height: 5'9"
Weight: Unknown
Hair Color: Unknown
Eye Color: Unknown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: An anthropological exam revealed she may have performed repetitive activity with her arms and shoulders during her lifetime.
Dentals: Available. Metallic amalgam restorations on # 2, 3, 14, 18-19, 30-31. Deep, non-carious pit on #17 suggests lost filling. # 9 slightly shoveled. #16 and 32 lost/extracted antemortem or were congenitally absent. Postmortem dental radiographs available. The fillings were of poor quality and the material used to fill the teeth was consistent with older material that was no longer being used in the United States.
Fingerprints: Not Available
DNA: Available
Clothing: Red T-shirt, red shorts with blue trim, green plastic shoes (size 8). Most of the clothing was in bad condition. The only evidence of the waist measurement was an elastic around the shorts which was 19 1/2" and would stretch to 25 1/2".
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: She carried a white handkerchief and .27 cents in change.
Florida Department of Transportation workers found the victim's skeletal remains in the wooded median strip of I-95, 4.5 miles north of the Volusia/Brevard County line.
Serial killer, Gerald Eugene Stano confessed to her murder. He told investigators the woman was a prostitute he met on Main Street in 1978 or 1979. He said he choked her to death and took her to the wooded area. Years later, he remembered the slogan on her shirt, "Do it in the dirt," an advertising slogan for a motorcycle manufacturer. No charges were filed in accordance with a plea agreement.
Stano confessed to killing 41 women, mostly in Florida and New Jersey. He was executed in 1998 by the state of Florida.
Agency Name: District 7 Medical Examiner - Volusia
Agency Contact Person: Karla Orozco, Medicolegal Death Investigator
Agency Phone Number: 386-258-4060
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: 12C02/80-0590V
Agency Name: Volusia County Sheriff's Office
Agency Contact Person: N/A
Agency Phone Number: (386) 254-1537
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: Unknown
NCIC Case Number: U592040242
NamUs Case Number: 724
NCMEC Case Number: 1184261
Namus
NCMEC
FLUIDDB
Miami-Dade Police Department
Daytona Beach News-Journal Archive
Added: 1/1/2004; Last Updated: 01/09/2024
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** Listed information may be estimated.
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