The identity of a woman found shot multiple times along a Cuyahoga Valley National Park trail remains a mystery, despite some tips left on a phone line since her discovery on Sunday.
Park spokeswoman Jennie Vasarhelyi said investigators are looking into leads but ask anyone with more information to call the anonymous tip line at 440-546-5945.
“Because she didn’t have an ID and she’s unable to speak, this investigation is challenging,” Vasarhelyi said. “Investigators ask that the calls to the tip line keep coming in.”
The woman, thought to be about 18 years old, is in serious condition at a local hospital. She is incapable of speaking, but Vasarhelyi declined to say what prevents her from communicating.
“I can’t speak to the nature of her injuries,” Vasarhelyi said.
Some runners discovered the woman in a field near Akron-Peninsula and Northampton roads in Boston Township shortly after 9 a.m. Sunday. In a 911 call released Tuesday by Richfield police, a motorist told dispatchers she had been flagged down by the runners who found the woman.
“She’s alive, she’s been shot, pants are down,” the woman told police.
The field where the woman was found lies a short walk off Akron-Peninsula Road, beyond a patch of woods. She was visible from the trail that passes through the field beyond the woods.
A woman who lives near the field said the trail is used daily, so the shooting victim would have been discovered quickly if the runners hadn’t found her.
“It’s not an isolated area,” said the woman, who declined to give her name. “I walk that trail once, twice a day, and there are runners who use it all the time — even at night, with flashlights on their heads.”
The woman said she’s lived in the area almost 10 years and nothing like this has ever happened.
“I hope they find whoever did it,” she said.
The victim is described as a black woman, about 18 years old, weighing 110-120 pounds and standing at about 5-foot-5. She was found wearing light blue denim shorts that were cutoffs made from men’s 32x30 Hollister skinny jeans, a plain pink tank top, a plain khaki belt and white Nike tennis shoes.
Nick Glunt can be reached at 330-996-3565 or nglunt@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @NickGluntABJ.