Coroner seeks help identifying woman found dead along Highway 99

The Stanislaus County Coroner’s Office is trying to identify a woman whose body was found by a Caltrans worker along Highway 99 last week.

The body was found among grass and trees in a ditch on the east side of the American Budget Inn & Suites on the morning of Aug. 1.

Her cause of death is being withheld pending an investigation by the Modesto Police Department and the California Highway Patrol, which joined in the investigation later, after it was determined her body was on state property, according to CHP Officer Thomas Olsen.

The woman, believed to be transient, was known by other transients only as “Sunshine,” said Deputy Tom Killian.

A man who said he was her boyfriend told Killian she had moved to the area from Oregon three or four months ago.

Killian checked with local social service organizations and homeless shelters, but no one had heard of her. He ran Sunshine’s fingerprints, but they produced no record of her.

Sunshine had some distinctive characteristics he’s hoping someone might recognize.

She was in her 30s or 40s, standing 5 feet, 11 inches tall and weighing 158 pounds. She had brown hair and blue eyes.

The right side of her hair was buzzed very short and the left side was left long, Killian said.

She wore a lot of bracelets and a ring on the third finger of her left hand made of copper and clear stones. She didn’t have any tattoos. She was last seen wearing a pink t-shirt and black shorts.

Anyone who might know Sunshine’s identity is asked to call Killian at the coroner’s office at 209-567-4480.

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This story was originally published August 6, 2018 at 1:00 PM.