LOCAL WOMAN SLAIN AT OAK STREET STORE
Staff report, Northwood Life
Police are investigating the brutal rape and strangulation of a woman found slain at the Gap store on Oak Street in downtown Northwood late Wednesday.
Anna Katherine Moore, 17, was found dead shortly after 12 a.m. at the clothing store, where she worked as assistant manager.
Sgt. L. C. Clayton of the Northwood Police Department confirmed Thursday that Moore’s body was discovered by the store manager, Lisa Stephens, after she received a call from the victim’s parents, who became concerned when their daughter didn’t return home from work. Moore had been beaten and strangled and there was possible evidence of sexual assault, sources say.
Investigators believe the attack occurred shortly after 8:45 p.m., when Moore sent two other clerks home in advance of a coming snowstorm.
“She had told these individuals that she was going to lock up and head straight home,” Clayton said. “Obviously someone stopped her.”
Police hope to be able to say more over the next few days as to who might be responsible. “Our detectives are continuing to interview people in an attempt to identify suspects,” police spokeswoman Donna Bartlett said.
Moore, who would have graduated in June from Northwood East High School, had worked part time at the store for less than a year. She was planning to attend the University of Illinois in the fall, where she hoped to major in psychology, Stephens said.
Moore was the only daughter of Dr. Davis and Jacqueline Moore of Northwood. Her father, a partner at the New Tech Fertility Clinic on Sheridan Road, was wounded in a shooting incident last year. Police say there is no evidence of a connection between the incidents.
On Thursday, the store remained closed, the sidewalks and entrances fenced in with crime scene tape, as police searched for clues. Individuals who had been to the Gap store on Wednesday, or who might have information regarding this crime, are being asked to contact police.
As news of Moore’s death spread through town, residents expressed a range of emotions.
“She was so beautiful and so kind. Who would want to hurt her like this?” Stephens said.
“It makes me real nervous,” said a female resident who asked not to be identified. “I’ve never thought twice about coming down here at night. Nothing ever goes on in this town.
“It’s scary,” she added, staring at the police tape across the front door.
By Thursday afternoon, a makeshift memorial of flowers and signs had appeared by the main entrance to Northwood East High School. Within hours, friends of the victim had added stuffed animals, photographs, poems, and other notes of remembrance.
“I can’t believe it,” said one student who described himself as a friend of the deceased. “She loved everybody. And everybody loved her.”