On June 19, 1997 the mummified body of an elderly woman was found over a hillside behind the Ponderosa restaurant at 920 Ohio River Blvd (Route 65), in Avalon.
The woman's body was wrapped in two plastic bags, believed to be mattress covers, and was inside a sleeping bag.
She was dressed in beige slacks, a light green adult diaper, a long-sleeved yellow sweat shirt and two pair of socks - one pink and one green.
The sweatshirt had the letters "USA FOR AFRICA" in big, blue, block letters. Also on the shirt was red script lettering which read "United Support of Artists for Africa". A musical note was on the "A" in USA and a leaf or tree was on the last "A" in Africa.
Because the body was mummified, it was likely she had been at the site for some time, roughly 3 months to a year prior to being found. There were no signs of obvious trauma to the body and cause of death was determined to be from natural causes.
Unnamed and unclaimed, her remains were eventually cremated. Almost as if she never existed. But she did, and thanks to the Allegheny County Police Department, the Allegheny County Coroner's Office and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - she has not been forgotten.
