TALLADEGA COUNTY — On the morning of Saturday, April 17, 1982, two people in Munford made a grisly discovery off to the side of a county road — the dead body of a young woman. To this day, almost 28 years later, no one has any idea who she was or who may have killed her.

Talladega County District Attorney Investigator Mike McBurnett said he remains haunted by the case and is organizing a memorial service for the unknown woman next month. The service will be Friday, April 16, at 11 a.m. at Pine Hill Cemetery, with the assistance of Usrey Funeral Home. Jackie Morgan of Blue Eye Baptist Church and Rodney Pritchett of Eastaboga Baptist Church will officiate, and District Attorney Steve Giddens will speak as well.

Dr. Randy Hagan of the Coosa Valley Baptist Association, Eureka Baptist Church in Lincoln, Tim Thomas at Munford Baptist Church and John Harris of Chandler Springs Baptist Church have all agreed to participate, along with numerous others, McBurnett said Tuesday.

The actual body was buried as a Jane Doe about a year after it was found. In 1982, the FBI’s national database of missing people was not up and running yet and DNA testing did not exist. Each time a new technology came along, it was tried, but with the same disappointing results.

“We got fingerprints, dental work, blood work all with no hits. We looked through at least 35 missing persons’ cases initially, but nothing fit,” McBurnett said.

The woman was white, between the ages of 18 and 25 and was 5 feet 8 inches tall. She weighed 133 pounds and had red hair with an auburn tint that was 2 feet long. She was killed by blunt force trauma, and there was no evidence of any sexual assault. There was bruising to her neck that suggested choking or strangling, but McBurnett said these injuries did not lead to her death.

Her teeth were in good condition, and she was still wearing a Casio watch that was set to Eastern Standard Time and several pieces of costume jewelry including two rings on each hand and a cross around her neck. She was dressed and partially covered up with pine straw, although her shoes were missing. It is now believed that she had been dead since the Wednesday before she was found.

She was wearing a beige top and corduroy pants with the name “Cynthia Haynes” written on them in indelible ink on the inside. McBurnett said the pants appeared to be old and could have been purchased at a second hand store, and in any case there were no missing persons cases involving anyone of that name at the time. Her legs and armpits were not shaved, leaving some to believe she might have come from Europe.

She was carrying a pack of Kent ultralight menthol cigarettes that lacked a tax stamp, which led investigators at the time she might have ties to a military base, but this also never panned out.

“We’ve tried every database there is,” McBurnett said. “We put her fingerprints through AFIS (Automated Fingerprint Identification System) and Interpol, nothing. It would be nice to be able to connect her to a family somewhere.”

If anyone has any information on this woman’s identity and if she has any family they should either contact McBurnett at 256-362-8700 or call the Talladega County Sheriff’s Detective Office at 256-761-2141.