A woman's nude body is found floating in a canal In the summer of 1983, a grim discovery brought a horrifying crime to light in Salt Lake City, Utah. On July 28th, the nude body of 28-year-old Caucasian female Carrie Anne Wayne was found floating in a surplus canal near the Kennecott smelter. Her life had been brutally cut short, and the mystery of who was responsible was just beginning to unfold.
An autopsy would later reveal the chilling extent of the violence she endured: two stab wounds to the chest, a skull fracture, and sexual mutilation. It was believed she had been deceased for several days before her body was found.
Carrie was last seen alive six days earlier, on July 22, 1983, at the Casa Blanca Motel on West North Temple, where she had been staying. In the time leading up to her death, she was known to frequent Birmingham's Truck Stop located at 2100 S. 900 W. and was also known to hitchhike. Little is known about her personal life, and at the time of her murder, she had used various aliases, including Carrie Evans Davis and Carrie LeCannon, adding layers of complexity to the investigation.
Despite the brutal nature of the crime, the investigation into Carrie Wayne's murder has been met with few leads and no suspects have ever been publicly identified. Over the decades, her case has grown cold, becoming one of Salt Lake City's enduring unsolved homicides. The Unified Police Department continues to have the case open, and a cold case hotline remains available for any information that might finally bring justice for Carrie and her family. The search for her killer or killers remains an active, albeit challenging, endeavor for law enforcement.
