cordon off 2.5 acres surrounding the area where the body lay. Many of those present already had a gut feeling that the body was that of Brianna Denison. However, because of the corpse’s condition and the fact that there was no means of identification present, no one could say so with absolute certainty. According to Steve Frady, they did not have an ID, “not even a tentative ID.”
Frady told an Associated Press reporter who had shown up at the site, “I’m not going to speculate, because we don’t know who the person is. We’re processing this as a crime scene. We do that with death investigations. They are gathering information and evidence and photographing the area.... We don’t know how long the body has been out there. It’s definitely a female. We don’t know the age.”
It was not long before Detective David Jenkins was notified of the female body found in the field, and he arrived at the scene shortly after being told about it, feeling that the worst had happened and Brianna Denison was no longer lost. He was followed by District Attorney (DA) Richard Gammick and Deputy District Attorney (DDA) Elliott Sattler, who had been carrying the Washoe County District Attorney’s Office “homicide cell phone” at the time. The DA’s office has a system in which the DDAs each take turns carrying this cell phone. After receiving a hit, the DDA passes the phone on to another deputy district attorney, who keeps it until that DDA receives a so-called hit.
Investigators on the ground were also supported by a helicopter from the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office, which was used by the pilot for aerial observation and photography of the site, in part to help map out the area for law enforcement from the air and to examine the scene from a bird’s-eye view to determine whether there were any other bodies or other potential evidence in the area. As it turned out, after taking a thorough look, the helicopter crew could see that there were no other bodies or additional evidence. When the area was mapped, it was noted that the location where the body was found was approximately eight miles from the house where Brianna disappeared.
Jenkins and the others saw that a large gray rock lay on the right side of her body, the significance of which, if any, was not immediately apparent. The investigators also found two pairs of women’s thong underwear beneath the corpse’s right thigh. These were a petite size, and they were intertwined. One pair was pink and white and made of lace, and was decorated with hearts. The other pair was darker in color and had a Pink Panther design on it; this was the character that appears in movies and cartoons. Appearing to be somewhat stained, the thong panties were bagged as evidence and would later be examined for a DNA profile. The discovery would soon receive nationwide attention as investigators attempted to identify the persons who owned the underwear. For now, the authorities were keeping the information about the panties to themselves.
The news media had also shown up at the site soon afterword about the body had gotten out via the police scanners that they always monitored. Reporters and cameramen were keeping a vigil of sorts just outside the perimeter of the designated crime scene. At times during that long afternoon, an occasional passerby would walk up and ask if Brianna had been found, saying that they had volunteered for some of the search teams and had spent time looking for the young woman. They expressed their feelings of dread and dismay, saying that they hoped the body that had been found did not turn out to be Brianna’s.
The remainder of the day was spent photographing the entire area, being sure that there were plenty of images of the body from many different angles. Detectives from the Reno Police Department, as well as the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office, crime scene technicians from the Washoe County Crime Lab, and investigators from the FBI worked in the field
Frady told an Associated Press reporter who had shown up at the site, “I’m not going to speculate, because we don’t know who the person is. We’re processing this as a crime scene. We do that with death investigations. They are gathering information and evidence and photographing the area.... We don’t know how long the body has been out there. It’s definitely a female. We don’t know the age.”
It was not long before Detective David Jenkins was notified of the female body found in the field, and he arrived at the scene shortly after being told about it, feeling that the worst had happened and Brianna Denison was no longer lost. He was followed by District Attorney (DA) Richard Gammick and Deputy District Attorney (DDA) Elliott Sattler, who had been carrying the Washoe County District Attorney’s Office “homicide cell phone” at the time. The DA’s office has a system in which the DDAs each take turns carrying this cell phone. After receiving a hit, the DDA passes the phone on to another deputy district attorney, who keeps it until that DDA receives a so-called hit.
Investigators on the ground were also supported by a helicopter from the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office, which was used by the pilot for aerial observation and photography of the site, in part to help map out the area for law enforcement from the air and to examine the scene from a bird’s-eye view to determine whether there were any other bodies or other potential evidence in the area. As it turned out, after taking a thorough look, the helicopter crew could see that there were no other bodies or additional evidence. When the area was mapped, it was noted that the location where the body was found was approximately eight miles from the house where Brianna disappeared.
Jenkins and the others saw that a large gray rock lay on the right side of her body, the significance of which, if any, was not immediately apparent. The investigators also found two pairs of women’s thong underwear beneath the corpse’s right thigh. These were a petite size, and they were intertwined. One pair was pink and white and made of lace, and was decorated with hearts. The other pair was darker in color and had a Pink Panther design on it; this was the character that appears in movies and cartoons. Appearing to be somewhat stained, the thong panties were bagged as evidence and would later be examined for a DNA profile. The discovery would soon receive nationwide attention as investigators attempted to identify the persons who owned the underwear. For now, the authorities were keeping the information about the panties to themselves.
The news media had also shown up at the site soon afterword about the body had gotten out via the police scanners that they always monitored. Reporters and cameramen were keeping a vigil of sorts just outside the perimeter of the designated crime scene. At times during that long afternoon, an occasional passerby would walk up and ask if Brianna had been found, saying that they had volunteered for some of the search teams and had spent time looking for the young woman. They expressed their feelings of dread and dismay, saying that they hoped the body that had been found did not turn out to be Brianna’s.
The remainder of the day was spent photographing the entire area, being sure that there were plenty of images of the body from many different angles. Detectives from the Reno Police Department, as well as the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office, crime scene technicians from the Washoe County Crime Lab, and investigators from the FBI worked in the field
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