West Virginia police announced on Tuesday that they have identified a woman who was found dead in February.
WCHS reported that an inmate on work release was picking up trash on February 21 when he discovered Tamber Johnson, 31, dead under a blanket in Charleston. Though police publicized sketches of three of her tattoos, she was only formally identified through DNA testing.
Charleston police Chief of Detectives Lt. Tony Hazelett said Johnson was a transient whose family did not report her missing because it was common to not hear from her for long periods of time. He said Johnson was in Florida the last time she contacted her family, though she previously had an apartment in the Dunbar area, according to MetroNews.
Hazelett also explained that the DNA from the then-unidentified woman was entered into a database. The FBI identified the woman as Johnson last week.
In addition to being under a blanket, MetroNews reported that Johnson’s body was found near a guardrail. Despite this, police do not believe her body was dumped there.
“All indications from the ME (medical examiner) and the investigation that this is not a homicide, no foul play suspected, no broken bones or anything like that,” Hazelett said.
A medical examiner’s report, which will provide a cause and manner of death, is pending.
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[Featured image: Tamber Johnson/Charleston Police Department]
