Hoover Dam security officers at 9 a.m. Jan. 3, 1979, discovered the body of a woman down an embankment on Highway 93. Her death was believed to have happened within the last several hours. An autopsy determined she died of gunshots to her head and abdomen from a .38 caliber firearm, a release issued Thursday from the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office stated.
The next day, a man reported that he and his wife had been driving on that highway around 3 a.m. Jan. 3 in the area where the woman’s body was found. The man said he saw a vehicle — described as a powder blue 1976-1977 Chevrolet Blazer or Ford Bronco with a removable hard top — backed up to the guardrail. The front license plate was covered with a rag, and the vehicle had front-end chrome push bars, all-terrain tires and a tall CB antenna on the right rear.
In February 1981, a private investigator from Ohio provided a photo of Ouma to sheriff’s detectives, who noted the resemblance to the homicide victim. Detectives contacted Elizabeth and Robert Gray, Ouma’s mother and stepfather. Ouma’s identity was confirmed through fingerprints lifted from objects at the Gray home, which were compared to the victim, and through dental records, the sheriff’s office said.
Detectives learned that Ouma had been married in Africa and had lived there for a few years where she worked as a physical education teacher. Before her death, she had been living at an apartment in Las Vegas. Detectives are seeking any information on her whereabouts between the time she was last seen leaving a bank on Dec. 13, 1978, and when her body was found on Jan. 3, 1979.
She is described as a white woman, approximately 5 feet, 5 inches tall and 106 pounds with hazel eyes and brown hair often worn in a ponytail. At the time of her death she was wearing green sweatpants and a dark blue short-sleeve blouse.
Detectives also are looking for a lead on the powder blue 1976-1977 Blazer or Bronco seen the night of Ouma’s homicide.
Information can be submitted to the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office Special Investigations Unit at 928-753-0753 ext. 4408, reference DR# 79-022.
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