Detectives ask for help to solve 1979 murder of Dayton woman found near Hoover Dam

Detectives are asking for the public’s help solving a cold case murder after a Dayton woman was found dead near the Hoover Dam more than 40 years ago.

The woman was identified as 25-year-old Marion Berry Ouma, the granddaughter of Yellow Pages founder Loren Berry, the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office said in a social media post.

On January 3, 1979 security officers saw a body down an embankment on Highway 93. The woman appeared to have a gunshot wound to her lower right abdomen, the sheriff’s office said. It also appeared she had been dead for less than 12 hours.

An autopsy determined the cause of death to be a gunshot wound to the head and abdomen from a .38 caliber weapon.

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The next day, a man told detectives that he and his wife had been driving on Highway 93 on the evening before in the area where the woman was found. He reported seeing a powder blue 1976-1977 Chevrolet Blazer or Ford Bronco with a removable hard top backed up to the guardrail. The front license plate was covered with a rag and had front-end chrome push bars, all-terrain tires, and a tall CB antenna on the right rear.

In February 1981, detectives were notified that a private investigator from Ohio had possibly identified the victim. Detectives met with the investigator, who provided a picture Ouma.

“They observed that she bore a striking resemblance to the victim,” the post said. “She had been married in Africa and had lived there for a few years where she was a physical education teacher.”

Detectives contacted her stepfather and mother who were sure it was Ouna. The identification was later confirmed through a comparison of fingerprints and dental charts.

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According to the sheriff’s office, detectives learned an employee at a Las Vegas bank located at 4th Street and Carson Ave. had conducted two bank transactions with Ouma a few months prior to her death. She had visited the bank on November 28th and December 13th to obtain money from her savings account in Ohio.

Detectives learned she was living in an apartment in Las Vegas as well until she was asked to vacate in December 1978 for failure to pay rent.

SIU Detectives are seeking any information on Ouma’s whereabouts between the time she was last seen leaving the bank and when her body was found.

She is described as being approximately 5′5″ and 106 lbs, with hazel eyes and brown hair that she often wore in a ponytail. She was wearing green sweatpants and a dark blue short-sleeve blouse, the sheriff’s office said.

Detectives are also looking for a lead on the 1976-1977 powder blue Chevrolet Blazer or Ford Bronco seen in the area the night of Ouma’s murder.

Anyone with information can contact the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office Special Investigations Unit at 928-753-0753 ext. 4408, reference DR# 79-022.

SIU HOMICIDE INVESTIGATION- NEAR HOOVER DAM The Mohave County Sheriff’s Office Special Investigation Unit is requesting...

Posted by Mohave County Sheriff's Office on Tuesday, August 6, 2024