Gilroy
– Police are investigating the death of a woman found in her car
on Hecker Pass Monday afternoon as a homicide.
A commercial trucker found the victim, who was described only as
a Hispanic woman in her early 20s, just after noon.
By Lori Stuenkel
Gilroy – Police are investigating the death of a woman found in her car on Hecker Pass Monday afternoon as a homicide.
A commercial trucker found the victim, who was described only as a Hispanic woman in her early 20s, just after noon. She was sitting, slumped over the steering wheel, in a champagne Toyota coupe that was parked facing east with its lights on and engine running on the south shoulder of Highway 152, near the Santa Cruz County line.
A cause of death had not been determined Monday night, and authorities would not say what type of injuries the woman sustained. The death was considered “suspicious” from the start of the incident, and officially deemed a homicide six hours later.
Investigators from the Sheriff’s and Medical Examiner’s offices were placing evidence markers and measuring the crime scene Monday afternoon. Sheriff’s deputies slowed traffic on both sides of the scene, which was located in the middle of a sharp S-shaped curve just east of Pole Line Road near Mt. Madonna County Park.
“We will determine a cause of death, identify her, identify her family and find out the circumstances of why she was out here,” said Sheriff’s Lt. Luther Pugh. “It seems she was out here last night, too.”
The commercial trucker who discovered the woman first passed the car about 11:30am as he drove westbound on Hecker Pass. An hour later, he noticed the car was in the same location and pulled over to check on it. The woman did not respond to the man’s voice and appeared to have blood on her body, Pugh said.
The man drove down Hecker Pass to get cell phone reception, where he called 911 at 12:31pm, Pugh said. Deputies and paramedics arrived on the scene 14 minutes later, and the woman was pronounced dead at the scene.
Because the woman may have been on the road for hours and the road is heavily traveled, Pugh said drivers who were on the road Sunday night or early Monday morning may remember something about the incident.
“Investigators are working on it, and they’ll probably working on it through the night,” Pugh said late Monday.
Anyone with information about this incident may contact Sheriff’s investigators Sgt. Dean Baker or Sgt. Pete Contreras at 808-4500.
