Two cold cases reopened in Harrison County related to women’s bodies found in woods

13270265-smallGULFPORT, Mississippi (AP) — In October 1980, a woman was found dead in a wooded area of Wiggins. One month later, another woman was found dead in a wooded area of Harrison County.

To this day no one knows who these women are, how they died or who is responsible for their deaths.

Harrison County investigators are not giving up. They have recently taken another look at the cases and with today’s technology they are hoping to get answers, according to WLOX-TV.

“We get new cases in every day, and it’s important to work every case and make sure you don’t forget them because it’s old,” Harrison County Evidence Technician Kristi Johnson said.

“We have a dedication to these people just like we do our victims of today.”

Thirty-three years ago the Internet was not even thought of, but now with a few clicks you can look up missing people from across the country.

Johnson added the two women’s profiles to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System to expand their search for the families of the ladies she knows only as Ms. Harrison and Ms. Wiggins.

Johnson is also getting a DNA profile of the women compiled.

“DNA takes a long time and once it gets entered into the database we are hoping to have some sort of resolution at least, at the very least, identify them and bring them home to their families,” she said.

Through her investigation, Johnson found out that the women’s skeletal remains were analyzed in Oklahoma. She contacted the office and was able to get pictures of facial reconstructions made shortly after the women were found dead.

“We have been able to see in other people that have been identified that their reconstructions are pretty close likeness to what they looked like. Usually family members can recognize, or at least think, that person looks like the person or resembles their missing loved one.”

Ms. Harrison was found on Nov. 10, 1980 on Logging Road off White Plains Road north of Interstate 10. Investigators believe she was between 19 and 25-years-old and had been dead for anywhere from three to 12 months before her remains were found.

“There was nothing on her remains to indicate how she died, so we are not sure. We are working it as a homicide until we can prove otherwise.”

Ms. Harrison was a Caucasian woman between 5’2″ and 5’5″ tall. Investigators said she had a little bit of a hunchback and believed she had some back pain. She also had some dental work done.

Ms. Wiggins was found Oct. 5, 1980 off Mississippi Highway 26 in Wiggins. She is also a Caucasian woman and is believed to have been anywhere from 34 to 46-years-old and about 5’1″ to 5’7″ tall.

“She was actually found in some trash bags with some twine wrapped around her remains and the bag, so we know she was a victim of a homicide,” Johnson said.

Ms. Wiggins had medium to dark brown hair and extensive dental work including a root canal and platinum or gold bridges.

With very little information on these women, Johnson hopes the pictures or even the DNA can help them identify them and then maybe she can even track down their killers.

“It’s really important to these people. They have been waiting 25 plus years to find out what happened to their family and, we want to bring that closure to them.”

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Online:

To leave an anonymous tips with the Harrison County Sheriff’s Department,http://www.harrisoncountysheriff.com/anonymous-tip-form

For more information on cold cases in Harrison County,htttp://www.harrisoncountysheriff.com/department-divisions/operations-division/cold-case-files

(Michelle Lady of WLOX wrote this report.)