She was found shot to death near the Hoover Dam in January 1979. At first, the body was unidentified, but officials learned Ouma’s identity in 1981. The case remains unsolved.
Heading west
A graduate of Bennett Junior College in Millbrook, New York, Ouma also took courses at the University of Colorado. She taught physical education and swimming from 1971 to 1976 in Nairobi, Kenya. The sheriff’s office release said that she married while in Africa.
When she returned home to Dayton, she took dance courses at Sinclair Community College and worked at various jobs.
Ouma left the Oakwood home where she lived with her parents in November 1978. She left a note saying she was leaving but not why, authorities said. It later was determined that she left to find work out west.
Her family contacted Oakwood police two months after she left.
‘New Year’s Nancy’
Ouma was found dead on Jan. 3, 1979.
Before she was identified, police referred to her as “New Year’s Nancy.”
She was shot in the head and abdomen. Her body was found on the Arizona side of the Hoover Dam, which is on the Arizona-Nevada border.
She was discovered by a dam security guard who noticed something along the road. A detective said she was left hanging over a guardrail at the dam.
The coroner’s report stated the weapon used in the shooting appeared to be a .38-caliber handgun. There was no sign of a struggle. An Arizona detective said it appeared that she was shot in Las Vegas, and her body was taken to the dam.
When her body was found, she was wearing a green jogging suit and blue T-shirt, and she was not wearing shoes or socks. Investigators said it was not uncommon for her to jog in her bare feet.
She also wasn’t found with any identification. Detectives hoped she might have been an employee of a Las Vegas casino where she would have been fingerprinted.
Arizona police said they did not know where she had been living or why she was shot, and they couldn’t find anyone in the area who knew her.
Every other Monday, her description was transmitted via teletype to law enforcement agencies throughout the country.
Bank transaction
A few days before Ouma was fatally shot, she asked the Nevada State Bank in Las Vegas to order a $473 draft from her Dayton bank, according to investigators. She never collected the money she had requested.
Police did learn that prior to her disappearance, she purchased camping equipment and blue jeans.
That bank transaction did, however, lead to her identity being revealed. Her identity was later confirmed by fingerprint and dental records in 1981.
Ouma’s body had been buried in a “Jane Doe” grave near Kingman, Arizona. Once her identity was determined, her body was returned to Dayton.
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