UPDATE [4:10 p.m.]: Atlanta police identified the woman found dead in the middle of the street as 17-year-old Dennetta Franks of Carrollton. A family member saw news coverage and identified her. She was reported missing Sept. 7. to Columbus police.
ORIGINAL STORY: An autopsy report confirmed that a woman found dead in the middle of a northwest Atlanta street last week was shot at close range.
But without any leads, clothes are the only thing detectives have that could identify her and possibly lead them to a suspect.
“Her fingerprints are not in any database, criminal or non-criminal, indicating she’s very young,” Atlanta police Maj. Adam Lee said Thursday at a press conference. No identification was found on the woman.
The woman, believed to be between 16 and 22 years old, was found with multiple gunshot wounds to the head and torso in the 1700 block of Hortense Place about 7:15 a.m. Sept. 21, Lee said. She had multiple linear scars on her inner left thigh and ankle.
Authorities released a new sketch of the victim and described her as being 5-foot-7 and 179 pounds.
Lee said there is no evidence that indicates she may have been homeless.
“Her appearance was clean, her weight was normal, so she doesn’t appear to be missing nourishment,” he said. “We believe she was well cared for prior to this incident.”
Police said she was last seen wearing a black nylon Adidas warm-up jacket, a blue and white striped shirt, black denim jeans, multicolored socks and pink Nike flip-flops. A red floral scarf, believed to have been on her head, was found underneath the woman. She also had two piercings in each ear.
Shots were reported in the area – known as Grove Park – two hours before the woman was found, Lee said, adding the neighborhood is used to criminal activity. Two aggravated assaults were reported in the days after the deadly shooting, according to Atlanta police records. In the days before it, police investigated several car and business thefts as well as three aggravated assaults.
Police do not know who could have shot the woman, but believe the person was standing in front of her or in close proximity when they fired the shots. Authorities also haven’t been able to trace her movements before she was found dead.
“There’s got to be someone who knows who she is,” Lee said. “There’s got to be someone who’s missing her, someone that cares for her.”
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