No Regrets

special knowledge of anatomy. Her legs were bent at the knees and her feet pulled up behind her buttocks and tied around her hips with a one-half-inch cotton rope. Her left ring finger had been removed at the third joint—probably to remove any rings, which would have led to her identity. The only pertinent scar on the headless body was an old three-inch surgical scar just over the tail bone. She had given birth to at least one child.
    Her body had been wrapped in six bedsheets and two blankets, the bedding tied with half-inch cotton rope identical to that around her legs.
    This information was sent out on teletype wires at theOregon State Police station in Milwaukie, Oregon. The clues to the child’s identity followed: “White female child, approximately four to six years old, forty-three inches tall, forty-five pounds, brown eyes, brown armpit length hair in one small ponytail tied with red rubber band. Wearing reversible ski-type jacket, lime green on one side, other side yellow and pink flowers with no brand on jacket. Jacket had hood and pull string. ‘Zipper Sim Co.’ brand. Light blue dress with green and white rickrack in color, six green buttons and rickrack tie with lace in bodice. No brand. White all cotton slip size four with three ruffles around skirt, label marked ‘exclusive of decoration.’ Also shows 3100 R and Manufacturers number 3139. White undershirt with safety pin ties, the type used on smaller youngsters. No brand. White underpants size six, Eiderdown brand, almost new. Has four wounds on head but cause of death unknown at this time.”
    Although the wording of the notification to the thirteen western states had no emotion in it—just the pure facts— the investigators didn’t feel that way. This was a little girl who should have been waiting for Santa Claus to come, but somehow she had become entangled in an adult situation that had ended in horror. Some of the detectives brushed away tears as they read the description of the little dress with the green and white rickrack; it might have been her Christmas dress.
    There had to be someone along the route of the teletyped alert who would recognize the description of the dead toddler and woman who’d been found on the lonely beach. They had not been dead long, probably no more than a day. If they were expected someplace for Christmas Eve, someone would be worried. Someone would call a police agency somewhere and give a description.
    Multnomah County Detectives Tom Sawyer, Orlando “Blackie” Yazzolino, and Darril MacNeel, along with Portland Police detectives, watched the development of the case closely. Although the northern tip of Sauvie Island where the bodies were found is in Columbia County, there was no evidence to indicate that the murder of the victims had occurred on the island itself. It was quite possible that they had been killed in Multnomah County or even within the city limits of Portland.
    Dr. Brady, one of the outstanding forensic pathologists in the Northwest, performed the postmortem exams on the nameless victims at 8:30 A.M . on Christmas Eve. It was impossible to pinpoint cause of death in the woman. Of course, decapitation itself would have been fatal, but Brady felt that had occurred after death, even though that was impossible for him to ascertain. He found some abrasions and bruises on her neck, but any bludgeoning, cutting, or other wounds delivered to the woman’s head were, of course, missing.
    The little girl had succumbed to head wounds. While the adult woman (her mother?) had not eaten for many hours before her death, the child had partially digested food in her stomach—which appeared to be cookies, candy, and french fries.
    Was it possible that the dead woman and her child had been attempting to hitchhike into the Portland area for Christmas and were picked up by a maniac? Had he decided to rape the mother and ended up killing her, only to realize he had to get rid of her child, too? A possible theory, but why would a killer have felt compelled to destroy all vestiges of identification if the victims had been strangers to him? No. Detectives were convinced that the pitiful victims were somehow linked to their killer. He (orshe) did not want their identity known because that might send police to his door asking questions.
    Further, although the woman had been found nude, vaginal smears failed to indicate the presence of semen or seminal fluid. Although such evidence could very well have dissipated