Courtesy: KCALMORRO BAY, Calif- Detectives said relatively new DNA technology has helped them crack a 17-year-old cold case of a young mother from Morro Bay. Her body was found in Los Angeles County.
Gail Allen's body was discovered on Covina Hills Road in Los Angeles County in October of 1995. Detectives didn't know who she was until last June, when her tissue samples were linked to a missing person's case in Morro Bay. That's when they identified the 20-year-old victim, who was reported missing three years ago.
Investigators said Gail Catherine Allen was 20 years old when she was murdered in 1995. In a highly unusual investigation, detectives said family members and the father of her two year old daughter, Deter Marguis, did not report her missing for three years. Detectives said it was due partly to estranged relationships and denial. Earlier this year Allen's mother and father provided DNA that matched the body of an unidentified victim in a criminal database. A body that they said was found in 1995 about 150 miles away from where Allen disappeared.
"She was discovered in the Covina area of Los Angeles County in June of 1995. She was discovered unclothed in a sleeping bag burned and dumped off the side of the road. About 17 years later she was finally identified," said Dave Olson of the LA County Sheriff's Department. Marquis Deter told Morro Bay investigators that Allen was last seen with a man he only knew as "cowboy" who drove a red camero. At this point investigators said they have no named suspects.
Detectives are asking anyone who knew Gail Catherine Allen to please contact them to help solve her murder.
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