Cold case: Investigators ask for public’s help solving 1979 homicide near Hoover Dam (2024)

MOHAVE COUNTY, Ariz. —The Mohave County Sheriff’s Office Special Investigation Unit is requesting the public’s assistance in a cold case homicide investigation from 1979.

According to a news release, on Jan. 3, 1979, at 9 a.m., Hoover Dam security officers observed a body down an embankment on Highway 93 at milepost 7. The female victim appeared to have a gunshot wound to her lower right abdomen. It also appeared she had been dead for less than 12 hours.

The next day, an autopsy determined the cause of death to be a gunshot wound to the head and abdomen from a .38 –caliber weapon. A physical description was noted by the medical examiner and fingerprints were obtained for identification.

On Jan. 4, 1979, detectives spoke telephonically with a person who informed them that he and his wife had been driving on Highway 93 that evening prior at 3 a.m. in the area where the victim was found. They observed a vehicle — a powder-blue 1976-1977 Chevrolet Blazer or Ford Bronco with a removable hard top — backed up to the guardrail near the location.

The witness told detectives the front license plate was covered with a rag, which he thought was odd. The vehicle had front-end chrome push bars, all-terrain tires and a tall CB antenna on the right rear. He said all the doors to the vehicle were closed and he saw no subjects around it. The investigation continued for months to identify the Jane Doe victim, but all attempts for fingerprint identification proved unsuccessful.

On Feb. 4, 1981, detectives were notified by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department that a private investigator from Ohio had possibly identified the victim. Detectives met with the investigator, who provided a picture of Marion Berry Ouma from Dayton, Ohio. They observed that she bore a striking resemblance to the victim. She had been married in Africa and had lived there for a few years where she was a physical education teacher.

Sheriff’s office detectives contacted Robert and Elizabeth Gray, stepfather and mother of Ouma. When shown a picture of the victim, they were sure it was Ouma. The identification was later confirmed through comparison of fingerprints lifted from objects at the mother’s residence and those of Jane Doe. Also, two dentists matched dental charts obtained from Ouma’s family and those from the victim.

On March 18, 1981, Detectives conducted follow-up at a bank in Las Vegas, located at 4th Street and Carson Avenue. They spoke with an employee who had conducted two bank transactions with the victim a few months prior to her death. Ouma had come into the bank on Nov. 28 and Dec. 13 to obtain money from her savings account in Ohio.

On June 30, 1981, detectives, along with and search and rescue personnel, went to Las Vegas to try to locate the victim’s residence. In doing so, they located the Sierra Vista Apartments, located at 750 E. Sierra Vista Drive. An interview revealed that the victim had arrived in a cab on Nov. 4, 1978, and rented an apartment. She was asked to vacate the property a month later for non-payment of rent.

Detectives were contacted during the investigation by various newspaper reporters working in the Dayton, Ohio, area. They reported that Loren Berry, the victim’s grandfather, had passed away Feb. 10, 1980. Berry was the founder of the Yellow Pages telephone books and his estate was estimated at $500 million. Berry had left $40 million to his granddaughter, who had been unidentified at the time of his death.

According to the Bureau of Reclamation, Hoover Dam and Lake Mead, spanning the Arizona-Nevada state line, are located in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River about 35 miles southeast of Las Vegas, Nevada.

Detectives are seeking any information on Ouma’s whereabouts between the time she was last seen leaving the bank on Dec. 13, 1978, and when her body was found on Jan. 3, 1979. Ouma is described as a white female, 25 years old, approximately 5-foot-5 and 106 lbs., with hazel eyes and brown hair that she often wore in a ponytail. At the time of her death, she was wearing green sweatpants and a dark blue short-sleeve blouse.

Detectives are also looking for a lead on the 1976-1977 powder blue Chevrolet Blazer or Ford Bronco seen in the area on the evening of Ouma’s murder. Despite the lapse of time, it is hoped that someone may still have valuable information that may lead to the identification of possible suspects.

Information can be submitted to the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office Special Investigations Unit at 928-753-0753 ext. 4408, reference DR# 79-022.