Jon Johnson File Photo: The Graham County Sheriff’s Office officially listed the investigation into a body found wrapped in a tarp south of Safford as a homicide on Thursday. The remains were listed as being a female between the ages of 14 and 22.
GCSO officially lists investigation as a homicide
By Jon Johnson
GRAHAM COUNTY – A body found by a hunter off Artesia Road near the corrals on Monday has been identified as a female between 14 and 22 years of age.
The victim was found in a tarp that was partially submerged in a 4- by 2-foot float box used to water livestock, according to Graham County Sheriff P.J. Allred.
On Thursday, the Office of the Pima County Medical Examiner in Tucson performed an autopsy on the remains and a forensic pathologist determined they were of a female between the ages of 14 and 22.
The Sheriff’s Office has officially listed the investigation as a homicide and serves as the lead investigator with Safford and Thatcher police departments assisting, according to Allred.
Sheriff Allred said while nobody fitting the description of the dead body has been listed as being missing locally in the past month, they are searching to see if anyone else has been reported missing from out of the area that could be the deceased.
“We will figure it out,” Allred said. “We’ll keep plugging away at it until we resolve it,” Allred said. “Somebody wrapped it up in some stuff and put it where they put it.”
