Deanna Marie Null, 36, was killed and her remains dismembered, placed in trash bags and scattered along Interstates 380 and 80, state police said Monday. The first bag was found last Tuesday by a road worker salting I-380.
Null was last seen getting into an older-model sedan in Scranton two weeks ago, but police said they have no suspects and no arrest has been made.
Null's family called state police on Thursday to report her missing after authorities circulated a description of the victim. She was identified using dental records.
"They had seen media coverage on it and knew they had not talked to her in a few weeks. It wasn't uncommon for her to be missing," state police Lt. Robert Bartal said.
Null lived in the Scranton and Williamsport areas but was "relatively transient," he said. The last time she was seen alive was in mid-January.
"There's a two-week gap we're trying to close," Bartal said.
A man who answered the phone at a listing for Null in Williamsport identified himself as Null's brother-in-law, but said the family did not want to comment.
The car that Null was seen getting into was described as an older-model (late 1970s or early 1980s), dark Buick or Cadillac sedan with a cloth or leather roof, chrome luggage rack and white license plate. Police described the driver as a black man, 5-feet-9 to 6 feet, with a short military-style haircut and a stocky build.
Court records indicate that Null pleaded guilty in Lycoming County to drug and conspiracy charges in 2003. Null violated her parole in 2005 and a warrant was issued for her arrest last September for failure to pay court costs and fines, records show.
