Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 12, 1995 TAG: 9502130048
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-5 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ABINGDON LENGTH: Medium
Authorities say the strangulation of Brenda Kay Hagy has many of the earmarks of similar cases along the East Coast and in the Midwest. In many of those cases, the women's bodies were dumped along interstates.
Washington County Sheriff Joe Mitchell said the forensic lab first double-checked to ensure that the print found did not match that of any of the investigating officers.
``It doesn't automatically mean it belongs to the suspect, but we just don't know yet,'' said Ron Sheets, a sheriff's investigator.
Sheets said the fingerprint was found on a small plastic Winn-Dixie grocery bag lodged beside the face of the victim.
Mitchell said state and federal authorities will try to match the print to those on file in various law enforcement and government computer databases.
Authorities have said they believe Hagy, 45, of Bloomington, Ind., may be one of many truck stop groupies and prostitutes slain by the serial killer. She had a history of traveling from truck stop to truck stop with drivers.
Mitchell said police also have a composite sketch of a possible suspect provided by a Virginia woman who survived a similar attack in Texas in 1985.
The woman described the suspect as a white male, who would now be between 50 and 55 years old. He was about 5 feet 8 inches or 5 feet 9 inches tall, slightly heavyset, with short dark hair and a closely cropped beard and moustache.
Sheets said the woman was raped and choked until she passed out. She was left for dead in a culvert along a Texas interstate.
by CNB