Post by admin4laney on Jul 5, 2006 21:00:11 GMT -5
1997 'cold case' is heating up again
Document, tip may prompt new search for slain Fairfield woman's car in Ohio River
BY SHEILA MCLAUGHLIN | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER
FAIRFIELD - A document found in a central Florida home and a tip about the possible whereabouts of Alana "Laney" Gwinner's car might help heat up a cold case.
Gwinner disappeared Dec. 10, 1997, from the Gilmore Lanes bowling alley. The Fairfield resident's body was found in the Ohio River near Warsaw, Ky., about one month later.
Her killer hasn't been found. Neither has her car.
The search for Gwinner's missing 1993 Honda del Sol has shifted to the Ohio River upriver from Cincinnati based on information Butler County sheriff's investigators received since Tuesday, said Detective Frank Smith, who heads the cold-case squad trying to solve her slaying.
A search of a home in Florida within the last three weeks also uncovered a document that could be linked to the 23-year-old Fairfield woman's death. Smith would not describe the document nor identify the Florida town.
"People involved in that house have ties to the state of Ohio," Smith said. "The people did reside in the state of Ohio, but left unexpectedly the week after her body was found."
Police speculate someone snatched Gwinner from the parking lot or near the bowling alley in an attempt to sexually assault her, then suffocated her when she fought back. Police believe her car was dumped in the Great Miami or Ohio river.
Police have repeatedly searched the Ohio River downstream from Cincinnati, as well as the Great Miami River, but have not located the del Sol.
Smith was uncertain when officers will begin searching the Ohio River again using sonar and an underwater camera.
Smith didn't say how important the new information may be.
"Whether it leads to anything or not, we don't know," he said. "Any bit of information or evidence we get, we'll analyze it."
E-mail smclaughlin@enquirer. com
news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060630/NEWS01/606300400/-1/all
Document, tip may prompt new search for slain Fairfield woman's car in Ohio River
BY SHEILA MCLAUGHLIN | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER
FAIRFIELD - A document found in a central Florida home and a tip about the possible whereabouts of Alana "Laney" Gwinner's car might help heat up a cold case.
Gwinner disappeared Dec. 10, 1997, from the Gilmore Lanes bowling alley. The Fairfield resident's body was found in the Ohio River near Warsaw, Ky., about one month later.
Her killer hasn't been found. Neither has her car.
The search for Gwinner's missing 1993 Honda del Sol has shifted to the Ohio River upriver from Cincinnati based on information Butler County sheriff's investigators received since Tuesday, said Detective Frank Smith, who heads the cold-case squad trying to solve her slaying.
A search of a home in Florida within the last three weeks also uncovered a document that could be linked to the 23-year-old Fairfield woman's death. Smith would not describe the document nor identify the Florida town.
"People involved in that house have ties to the state of Ohio," Smith said. "The people did reside in the state of Ohio, but left unexpectedly the week after her body was found."
Police speculate someone snatched Gwinner from the parking lot or near the bowling alley in an attempt to sexually assault her, then suffocated her when she fought back. Police believe her car was dumped in the Great Miami or Ohio river.
Police have repeatedly searched the Ohio River downstream from Cincinnati, as well as the Great Miami River, but have not located the del Sol.
Smith was uncertain when officers will begin searching the Ohio River again using sonar and an underwater camera.
Smith didn't say how important the new information may be.
"Whether it leads to anything or not, we don't know," he said. "Any bit of information or evidence we get, we'll analyze it."
E-mail smclaughlin@enquirer. com
news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060630/NEWS01/606300400/-1/all