Woman with suburban ties found at bottom of Arizona river

Police in Arizona are seeking the public's help for information that may shed light on a case involving an Elk Grove High School graduate who was found dead in a river.

Christine Jurek, 34, was found by a fisherman the afternoon of June 7 in a Gila River bank across the street from Phoenix International Raceway. Reuben Gonzales, a police detective in the Phoenix suburb of Avondale, said Jurek was identified through her fingerprints that were entered into a national database used by law-enforcement agencies.

Gonzales said while the case initially has a death investigation classification, it's being treated as though criminal activity occurred unless police can determine otherwise. He said the Maricopa County medical examiner's office has yet to complete its findings on Jurek.

Jurek's clothed body was found on a 100-degree-plus day in an area popular with fishermen, campers and off-road recreation enthusiasts, Gonzales said. He said a lack of information about Jurek has created a "complex puzzle" for investigators.

"It's just very odd that a young lady like her would be found dead and nobody would be missing her," Gonzales said Saturday evening.

Gonzales said Jurek has ties to the Northwest suburbs. Jurek's brother, Shaun Slowinski of Chicago, said she graduated from Elk Grove High in the 1990s and moved to the Phoenix area about 15 years ago.

Anyone with information about Jurek is asked to call Avondale police at (623) 333-7001. Avondale police announced the positive identification of Jurek's body on July 8.

"We are looking into every lead," Gonzales said.

Police received a hit on the fingerprints after no one responded when they released a photograph of a sun-and-moon tattoo similar to what was on one of Jurek's feet in an effort to get someone to identify her.