Mr. Ballin

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.

But Hayward knew, you know, his theory didn't mean much until he figured out who this woman was.

She didn't seem to have a purse with her and there was no ID in the pockets of her folded clothes.

So Hayward waved some other officers over to help him flip her body over so they could look underneath her.

And when they did that, Hayward saw there were a few bullets gathered in the dirt.