ROANOKE TIMES

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, March 8, 1990                   TAG: 9003082106
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B2   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: associated press
DATELINE: BRISTOL                                 LENGTH: Short


POLICE LOOK FOR SHOOTING WITNESS

Police believe a southbound trucker may have witnessed the slaying of 18-year-old Tammy Salyer, who was killed by a shot fired from a passing car on Interstate 81.

Investigators have learned that someone with a citizens band radio may have spoken over the radio of seeing Salyer's car veer across the median of the highway from the northbound lanes and come to rest on the shoulder of the southbound lanes, Police Chief Tom Stone said Wednesday.

Bristol police are appealing to anyone who might have heard the CB conversation to contact the department.

Stone said police believe the fatal shot was fired by a passenger in a passing car as Salyer was traveling north on I-81 shortly after midnight on Feb. 28. After she was shot in the head, Salyer's car swerved into the median and eventually came to rest on the roadside of the southbound lane.

"We also believe that when the car came up and her car went across the interstate that some other people saw it, and we've been told that there was some conversation on the CB radios about her car going over (the median)," Stone said.

Since police believe the witness may have been a trucker traveling south on the interstate, investigators are placing posters at truck stops along the highway seeking information about the slaying.

Stone said several leads have proven fruitless, and that the department still cannot determine a motive in the shooting, which occurred as Salyer was returning home from work.



 by CNB