Mr. Ballin

A few minutes later, Hayward saw some police cars up ahead on the side of the road, and also a deputy waiting by a trailhead.

And so he pulled over, got out, and then followed the deputy up a steep trail for about 300 yards.

And he was pretty out of breath by the time he saw a few other crime scene techs and officers gathered around a bush, where underneath the bush there was a body of a naked woman lying face down on the ground.

Hayward walked over and crouched down to examine the body, and right away he could see at least three bullet wounds in the woman's back.

But other than that, he didn't see any other injuries, and there were no clear signs of decomposition.

His best guess was that this woman had been there for maybe a day or so, which was actually sort of a miracle when he thought about it.

I mean, this time of year, nobody came out to this area, and if it hadn't been for that utility worker, I mean, she might not have been found for months.

Hayward looked next to the body, and he saw the woman's clothes and shoes were right nearby, and each item was actually folded very neatly, which struck him as a little bit strange.

Hayward pulled on a glove and began examining the clothing, and he could see that there was really nothing ripped or damaged.

And also, as Hayward kind of walked around the immediate area, he noticed the whole scene was just as neat as the clothes.

There was no gun anywhere, and no marks in the dirt or signs of a struggle or a fight,

and there was no indication that the body had been dragged around, and so Hayward felt pretty confident that this woman was likely shot and killed in the exact spot she was found in.

Hayward stood in the middle of the trail and considered everything he was seeing.

The neatly folded clothes could have been removed during consensual sex, and then maybe things turned violent, or that could mean the woman was maybe forced to undress at gunpoint.

Either way, Hayward's gut told him that this woman's killer was someone she knew.

Because the thing was, getting up here from the road was not easy.

I mean, Hayward was pushing 50 and knew he was not in the best shape.

But even for somebody who was young and fit, it would be hard to force another person all the way up a trail like this.

It made more sense that this woman had first walked up willingly with someone she likely trusted.

And then that person killed her once they were up there.