Changes: Tempe Girl

Revision as of 13:29, 6 July 2022

"Tempe Girl" was the nickname given to a teenager who died of a cocaine overdose in Tempe, Arizona in 2002. Her body was dumped behind a strip mall shortly after her death.

She is currently undergoing testing by the DNA Doe Project.

Case

The decedent was discovered behind a strip mall in Tempe, Arizona on April 27, 2002.

A compact disc discovered close to her body had fingerprints on it, which belonged to a woman who lived in Phoenix, Arizona. Investigators went to interview the woman, who claimed she had no knowledge of the decedent, but her boyfriend had observed the girl hitchhiking near 32nd Street and Greenway Road in Phoenix, Arizona on April 26, 2002. He offered her a ride to her intended destination of Tempe, Arizona. She had also expressed interest in purchasing tickets for an upcoming music concert.

The decedent spoke in Spanish while she was in the vehicle and stated she was recently disowned for her drug use by her family and expelled from her household.

Apart from the driver, a second person, a drug dealer, was picked up in the vehicle. The decedent decided to spend her money on cocaine from the drug dealer instead of purchasing tickets to the upcoming concert like she had originally intended.

Along the way, she used cocaine and had a negative reaction to the drug. She began to have a seizure and the driver pulled her out of the car, leaving her behind a strip mall. The driver then informed the drug dealer to call police at a nearby gas station and left the scene. However, her body was not discovered until 5:40 am the next morning.

Due to the circumstances described by the driver of the vehicle, her death was not ruled a homicide or accident.

Characteristics

Brown eyes.
Straight, black, 12 to 12.5 inch long hair.
She had two noticeable scars: one on the back of her left hand in the shape of a "T" and the other was on top of her left shoulder.
Her nails were painted with faded purple nail polish.
She possibly spoke Spanish.

Clothing and accessories

A red halter top.
Watch L.A. brand blue jeans with a side zipper and eyelets on the waistband.
Blue underwear.
One Lower Eastside black slip-on dress shoe, size 6.5 and with a 3-inch wedge heel.
A purple elastic hair tie was on her right wrist.

Exclusions

Alissa Turney
Veronica Martinez
Maria Mauricio
Florinda Lopez
Yuliana Escudero
Leanne Hausberg

Gallery

Sources

Tempe Girl at the Doe Network^{POSTMORTEM WARNING}
Tempe Girl at NamUs ^{POSTMORTEM WARNING}
Tempe Girl at NCMEC
Tempe Girl at the Maricopa County Medical Examiner
Tempe Girl on Wikipedia
AZ Central
CNN

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{UID_Infobox|title1=Tempe Girl|image1=Tempe Girl.jpg|caption1=|discovered=April 27, 2002|span={{age|2002|4|27}}|sex={{F}}|location=Tempe, Arizona|age=15-19|race={{Hisp}}/{{Native}}|height=5' - 5'2|weight=120 - 125 pounds|condition={{rf}}|pmi=1 day|cod={{Overdose}}}}
-{{UID
+'''"Tempe Girl"''' was the nickname given to a teenager who died of a cocaine overdose in Tempe, Arizona in 2002. Her body was dumped behind a strip mall shortly after her death.
-|name = Tempe Girl{{Featured case}}
-|image = [[File:Tempe Girl.jpg|200px]]
+She is currently undergoing testing by the DNA Doe Project.
-|sex = Female
-|race = Hispanic/Native
-|location = Tempe, Arizona
-|found = April 27, 2002
-|span = {{age|2002|4|27}}
-|postmortem interval = 24 hours
-|body condition = {{rf}}
-|age approximation = 15 - 19
-|height approximation = 5' - 5'2"
-|weight approximation = 120 - 125 pounds
-|cause of death = Cocaine overdose
-|caption =
-}}
-'''Tempe Girl''' was a teenager or young adult who died of a cocaine overdose in Tempe, Arizona in 2002.
 ==Case==
+The decedent was discovered behind a strip mall in Tempe, Arizona on April 27, 2002.
+A compact disc discovered close to her body had fingerprints on it, which belonged to a woman who lived in Phoenix, Arizona. Investigators went to interview the woman, who claimed she had no knowledge of the decedent, but her boyfriend had observed the girl hitchhiking near 32nd Street and Greenway Road in Phoenix, Arizona on April 26, 2002. He offered her a ride to her intended destination of Tempe, Arizona. She had also expressed interest in purchasing tickets for an upcoming music concert.
-The unidentified woman was found behind a business around 1850 East University Drive in Tempe, Arizona, by an employee. Nearby her body was a CD case with fingerprints on it, leading authorities to a local woman. The woman, who owned the CD case, last left it in her car and didn't know who the unidentified woman was, but her boyfriend had access to her car the day before the unidentified woman was found and knew who she was.
+The decedent spoke in Spanish while she was in the vehicle and stated she was recently disowned for her drug use by her family and expelled from her household.
-The driver claimed to have picked the unidentified woman up as a hitchhiker near 32nd Street and Greenway Road in Phoenix, Arizona. While driving, she supposedly told him in Spanish that she was disowned from her family for being a recreational drug user, didn't have anywhere to stay, and she wanted to buy tickets to a concert. However, the unidentified woman changed her mind and decided to buy cocaine off of the other passenger in the car, who was a drug dealer. Depending on the source, the drug dealer was either already in the car when she'd been picked up or the drug dealer was picked up later on.
+Apart from the driver, a second person, a drug dealer, was picked up in the vehicle. The decedent decided to spend her money on cocaine from the drug dealer instead of purchasing tickets to the upcoming concert like she had originally intended.
-The unidentified woman began convulsing after snorting cocaine, which led to the driver pulling over and telling the drug dealer to call somebody. A 9-1-1 call was made to the Tempe Police near where her body was found, but it was unintelligible. It's unknown if the unidentified woman fell out of the car, got out on her own, been pushed out, or carried out the car. Due to the medical examiner being unable to determine her exact age or if she was still alive when she left the vehicle, police were unable to press charges against the driver.
+Along the way, she used cocaine and had a negative reaction to the drug. She began to have a seizure and the driver pulled her out of the car, leaving her behind a strip mall. The driver then informed the drug dealer to call police at a nearby gas station and left the scene. However, her body was not discovered until 5:40 am the next morning.
-==Physical Description==
-*She had brown eyes.
-*Her hair was straight. black, and 12 to 12.5 inches long.
-*She had two noticable scars: one on the back of her left hand in the shape of a "T" and the other was on top of her left shoulder.
-*Her nails were painted with faded purple nail polish.
-*She may have been a Spanish speaker.
+Due to the circumstances described by the driver of the vehicle, her death was not ruled a homicide or accident.
-==Clothing and belongings==
+==Characteristics==
-*A red halter top.
+*Brown eyes.
+*Straight, black, 12 to 12.5 inch long hair.
+*She had two noticeable scars: one on the back of her left hand in the shape of a "T" and the other was on top of her left shoulder.
+*Her nails were painted with faded purple nail polish.
+*She possibly spoke Spanish.
+==Clothing and accessories==
-*''Watch L.A.'' brand blue jeans with a side zipper and eyelets on the waistband.
+*A red halter top.
+*Watch L.A. brand blue jeans with a side zipper and eyelets on the waistband.
 *Blue underwear.
+*One Lower Eastside black slip-on dress shoe, size 6.5 and with a 3-inch wedge heel.
+*A purple elastic hair tie was on her right wrist.
+== Exclusions ==
-*One ''Lower Eastside'' black slip-on dress shoe, size 6.5 and with a 3 inch wedge heel.
+* [https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/1333 Alissa Turney]
-*A purple elastic hair tie was on her right wrist.
+* [https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/6354 Veronica Martinez]
+* [https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/1066 Maria Mauricio]
+* Florinda Lopez
+* Yuliana Escudero
+* Leanne Hausberg
 ==Gallery==
@@ Line 49: / Line 46: @@
 Tempe Girl Reconstruction 002.jpg
 maricopa Arizona Jane Doe April 2002.jpg
+PM.jpg|Maricopa County Medical Examiner photo|link=File:Tempegirlpostmortem1.jpeg
+PM.jpg|Photo taken at scene|link=File:Tempegirlpostmortem2.jpeg
 -1368shoe.jpg
 -1368waistband.jpg
 </gallery>
-==Links==
+==Sources==
+*{{Doe Network|501ufaz.html|Tempe Girl}}{{PM}}
-*[http://archive.azcentral.com/specials/special14/articles/0106coldcase06.html AZ Central]
-*[http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/09/13/grace.coldcase.jane.doe/index.html CNN]
-*[http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/501ufaz.html Tempe Girl] at the [http://www.doenetwork.org/ Doe Network]
 *{{NamUs|1987|Tempe Girl}} {{PM}}
 *{{NCMEC|1111241|Tempe Girl}}
+*{{Maricopa|02-1368|Tempe Girl}}
-*[http://unidentified.maricopa.gov/search.aspx?caseNum=02-1368 Maricopa Medical Examiner]
 *{{Wikipedia|Tempe_Girl|Tempe Girl}}
+*''[http://archive.azcentral.com/specials/special14/articles/0106coldcase06.html AZ Central]''
+*''[http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/09/13/grace.coldcase.jane.doe/index.html CNN]''
 [[Category:Overdoses]]
 [[Category:Hispanic]]
@@ Line 70: / Line 70: @@
 [[Category:Teenagers]]
 [[Category:Reconstructed by NCMEC]]
-[[Category:Cases over 10 years old]]
+[[Category:Cases over 20 years old]]
 [[Category:Recognizable faces]]
 [[Category:Possibly foreign]]
 [[Category:1980s births]]
 [[Category:Drug users]]
-[[Category:Accidental deaths]]
 [[Category:Seen alive]]
 [[Category:Current NCMEC cases]]
+[[Category:Possible runaways]]
+[[Category:2002 deaths]]
+[[Category:Nicknamed]]
+[[Category:Hitchhikers]]
+[[Category:Possible accidents]]
+[[Category:DNA Doe Project cases]]