It was 1968, and Wilbur Riddle was tromping around Eagle Creek, off Route 25 in backwoods Kentucky, scavenging for bell-shaped glass insulators fallen from overhead power lines. A buddy of his could resell them as paperweights, $5 a pop. As Riddle kicked through the leaves and brush, his foot caught on something solid. It was a green burlap sack, the kind carnies use for carrying big-top tents, tied with a tan cord. Inside was a woman's body. She was naked except for a shred of cloth diaper draped over her shoulder. Her eyes had rotted away. She had three broken fingernails - part of a futile attempt, apparently, to claw out of her shroud. A state cop told reporters, "We think the girl was rendered unconscious by a blow to the head, then tied up in the bag to die a slow death by asphyxiation." Local sheriffs deputies tried for more than six months to figure out who she was. Her epitaph was merely approximate: TENT GIRL. DIED ABOUT APRIL 26 - MAY 3, 1968. AGE ABOUT 16 - 19 YEARS.
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