NEWS INFORMATION FROM

THE OFFICE OF MAYOR STEPHEN R. REED
City of Harrisburg
King City Government Center
Harrisburg, PA 17101-1678
Telephone: 717.255.3040

FOR IMMEDIATE USE
20 November 2003

HOMICIDE VICTIM IDENTIFIED

Harrisburg, PA—Mayor Stephen R. Reed today announced that a body discovered in Uptown Harrisburg yesterday afternoon has been identified by the Dauphin County Coroner as 28-year old Victoria Bowman, whose last known address was possibly on Market Street in the city. Police found Bowman’s body wrapped in a sleeping bag yesterday afternoon along railroad tracks just north of the Maclay Street Bridge.

The Mayor said Bowman’s body was discovered yesterday around 4:30 p.m. by two passers-by who then notified police. The body was tightly wrapped in a plastic sheet and then duct-taped from head to toe, and then wrapped again in a sleeping bag. Police left the packaging intact until it could be placed in a secure environment so as to preserve any potential forensics evidence.

Reed said that no definitive cause of death has yet been determined, but police speculate that it may have been from strangulation. A final determination will be made after toxicology and other test results are obtained. Police believe Bowman was killed at another location and her body was then dumped at the uptown location where it was discovered.

While it is unknown at this time exactly when Bowman may have been killed, Reed said the two persons who discovered the body yesterday had actually seen the bundled sleeping bag as early as Monday, but thought it was just illegally dumped debris. Their continued curiosity then led to yesterday’s discovery.

The Mayor said Bowman was well known to city police and had a previous criminal history of minor offenses. She had several different aliases, including Victoria Doubs and Precious Perez. Police are currently following a number of leads in the case but have are no suspects at this time.

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