Laclede County Authorities To Set Up Tip Line To Help Identify "The Lady In The Box":

A tip line should be in place by early next week to help investigators in Laclede County identify a woman whose body was found encased in concrete inside a tool box.

Hunters found the locked plastic toolbox that held the white females body on November 15th on AA near Kinfolk Road not far from Lebanon.

Laclede County Sheriff Richard Wrinkle says, "she was basically sitting in the box with her knees up and the concrete was poured over her."

The forensic pathologist who conducted the autopsy estimated the woman to be between 25 - 40 years of age. She was about 5' 5" to 5'8" tall and had brown hair that was about 7 to 10 inches long. He estimated that she had been dead about 10 days.

After medical examiners chipped away the concrete that surrounded the woman's body, they discovered that she was wearing pajamas (no bra, underwear or socks); had had her wisdom teeth and a molar pulled; her ears had been pierced one time; she was well manicured and had undergone a laparoscopic gall bladder surgery and full hysterectomy.

At first Laclede County Coroner Steve Murrell believed the woman didn't have any tattoos......no he's not so sure. He says, "she could have had a small tattoo on the bottom part of her leg, ankle or foot; her lower legs and feet were too decomposed for us to tell."

The drying properties of the concrete hindered officials from getting a facial profile on the murder victim, but they do have dental x-rays, fingerprints and a DNA profile is being processed at the Missouri Highway Patrol Crime Lab in Jefferson City.

Authorities don't believe the dead woman was a longtime local, but that she could have recently moved to the area and that whomever murdered her, "has not reported her missing."

Authorities are sending deputies out to collect DNA samples from people who think they could be related to the unidentified woman. If you think you might know who this woman is, or that you could be related to her call the Laclede County Sheriff's office at 417-532-2311 or the Missouri Information Analysis Center (MIAC) at 1-866-362-6422.

Murell adds, "I hope by next week you're not going to be able to go anywhere in the United States and not hear people talking about this case. This woman has a family, and we want to get her home."