She Was 16-Years-Old When She Was Found Dead Without Her Clothes In A Parking Area And After 30 Years She Has Been Identified
Knowlton Township, New Jersey. It was October 26th, 1991, a Sunday, and at around 1:45 that afternoon the New Jersey State Police received a call about a young woman who was found dead by several hunters in a parking area in Knowlton Township.
The parking area this young woman was found in was gravel-filled and located close to Route 94 North, which connects to Pennsylvania and New York. The parking area also happened to be not far away from a regional trucking facility, and it was surrounded by a heavily wooded area.
When officers arrived on the scene, they could see that the body of the young woman was already decomposing, and she had no clothes on.
The only thing that she had that officers hoped would be able to identify her was a tattoo of a Bengal tiger that stretched 7 inches along the calf of her left leg.
Warren County Prosecutor; pictured above is what this young woman’s tiger tattoo looked like
In light of the fact that authorities did not know her name or who she was, she was nicknamed “Tiger Lady” after her unique lower leg tattoo.
The day after this young woman was found dead, an autopsy was performed on her. Though the medical examiner could not figure out her exact cause of death due to the state of her remains, it was evident that she was murdered.
Unfortunately, authorities had no idea who this young woman was, and they had no idea who was responsible for taking her life.
They actively began attending tattoo conventions, asking around to see if anyone could recognize this tattoo.
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Authorities also reached out to the media to cover her story, and they received many tips, however, nothing panned out.
Years went by, and then in December of last year, some of Tiger Lady’s remains were taken to a lab with the hopes that her DNA could be recovered from her bones.
That process was a success, and her DNA was then entered into various databases. This summer, authorities were able to figure out who Tiger Lady’s family was, and after speaking to them, they finally learned her name: Wendy Baker.
New Jersey State Police; pictured above is a screenshot of the press conference, where authorities finally identified Tiger Lady after 30 years
“Wendy was raised by her stepmother from the time she was 4-years-old until the time she was 15, traveling between Chester County and Bradenton, Florida during this time,” a press release from the Warren County Prosecutor reads.
“The stepmother provided Wendy’s full name, Wendy Louise Baker, and date of birth, July 14, 1975, making her sixteen at the time of her death.”
To this day, authorities aren’t sure when Wendy went missing or how she ended up where she was found. They are asking that members of the public come forward with any details that can help them put the remaining pieces together on Wendy’s case.
If you have any information related to Wendy’s murder, you can contact the New Jersey State Police Cold Case Unit at 833.4NJ.COLD.
Warren County Prosecutor; pictured above is Wendy at 14-years-old
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