BRISTOL, Va. – The 22-year-old woman found dead in the woods two weeks ago died of asphyxiation on the same hillside where her body was discovered, police said Monday.
Her death is believed to have been an isolated event not connected to the three young women found dead in nearby woods over the last several years, according to police.
Bristol Virginia Police Detective Sgt. Steve Crawford said there were signs of a struggle in the brush, up a steep hill off East Valley Drive, where Angela Statzer’s body was found on March 3, her 22nd birthday, by a man walking his dog. Crawford said she had likely been dead about a day.
Statzer was killed there – 100 yards deep in the woods off a dirt access road that cuts up a hill across from Aerus Electrolux, Crawford said. The land is owned by the city.
How and where Statzer died are the first details to emerge about her death. Shortly after her body was found, police named it a homicide, but remained quiet about the particulars “to protect the integrity of the investigation,” according to Capt. Maynard Ratcliff.
Statzer had some marks on her body, but there was no apparent cause of death. Statzer was not sexually assaulted, Crawford said. She was lying on her back, wearing a hooded sweatshirt, pants and shoes.
The medical examiner’s office in Roanoke determined she died of asphyxiation – her air was cut off in several different, as yet unknown, ways.
Crawford said the exact time of death is pending, as cold weather makes it difficult to estimate.
The Police Department is interviewing suspects, and expects to make an arrest “any day now,” Crawford said.
cgalofaro@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2531
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