Gunshots before sunrise lead to a dead woman with long fingernails, but little else

Gunshots were fired. And when police arrived, they found a body on a sidewalk outside a home on a Coral Way neighborhood street filled with single-family homes.

Two days later, police still haven’t been able to identify the dead woman. She didn’t have any identification. Nobody in the neighborhood where she was found knows her.

She had one outstanding feature, police said: three-inch long fingernails on each of her thumbs — covered in glitter.

“It’s a pretty rare case. No screams, just shots fired,” said Miami police Detective Rene Pimentel. “As of right now, I think her case is pretty much at a standstill.”

Pimentel said Miami detectives have contacted the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to try to find out whether the woman was listed as an undocumented alien.

Police were first alerted to the shooting at 4:31 a.m. Saturday by a caller who said they heard at least three gunshots. When they got there, police found the woman lying on the sidewalk in front of a home at 1875 SW 14th Ter., with at least two bullet wounds to her head.

There was no firearm left at the scene. And so far, no evidence linking anyone to a crime. Police who have canvassed the Shenandoah neighborhood and searched for surveillance video are stumped.

They believe someone drove the woman to the neighborhood and either shot her in a vehicle and tossed the body, or shot her after she exited the vehicle.

The woman, in her 50s, weighs about 100 pounds and is five-feet, five-inches tall. She was neatly dressed and wore a gray tank top, blue jeans and sneakers.

“No one knows who she is,” Pimentel said. “They ran her prints. She’s a Jane Doe.”

This story was originally published July 18, 2017 at 7:16 AM with the headline "Gunshots before sunrise lead to a dead woman with long fingernails, but little else."