From the Yakima Herald (H/T Teresa):
More than 15 years has passed since Shari Dee Sampson Elwell’s strangled and sexually mutilated body was found in a remote area of the Yakama reservation, but the family is still awaiting closure in the case.
Her homicide capped a decade-long string of more than a dozen mysterious deaths of women on the
1.2 million-acre reservation, which not only stymied authorities but instilled fear in this otherwise close-knit community.
Speculation of a serial killer targeting Indian women worried many, and two investigators revealed they saw links in some of the deaths. But other investigators said inconsistencies in the manner of deaths ruled out any serial killer.
“Nobody knew what was going on, and even today we don’t know,” said Yakama Tribal Council Vice Chairwoman Lavina Washines. “Nothing was ever resolved.”
Now, nearly three years after the U.S. Justice Department promised to review all unsolved cases on the reservation, a number of the victims’ families may see some closure.
Turtle Talk 