Northwestern Indiana officials hope images help ID victim

GARY, Ind. - Northwestern Indiana police are hoping newly-created renderings of the face of an unidentified young woman found dead in Gary seven years ago can lead them to her family.

The homicide victim's body was found in February 2007 in an abandoned garage. The black woman in her late teens to early 20s died from blunt force trauma to her face and upper torso and asphyxiation.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children created images of the victim's face that Lake County Coroner Merrilee Frey released last week.

Frey tells The Times of Munster she's optimistic someone will recognize the woman from the facial reconstruction and she hopes the woman's relatives come forward.

Authorities have the woman's DNA on file for a genetic comparison that could confirm her identity.