BY TOM O'NEILL
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Two days after the decomposed body of a woman was found in Laquitta Elliott's new apartment in Bond Hill, police on Sunday still wrestled a very basic question.
Is it she?
Ms. Elliott, 24, has not been seen recently, and Cincinnati police homicide Sgt. John Newsom said indications are the woman had been dead for "at least a week."
A neighbor of Ms. Elliott's in the 1900 block of Seymour Avenue, said it's been about two weeks since a foul odor began to emerge in her hallway. The woman, who didn't want her name published because she feared for her safety, said neighbors are convinced the dead woman is Ms. Elliott.
The Hamilton County coroner's office said it has yet to identify the body, a process complicated by the degree of decomposition. Police have ruled the case a homicide. They say they are hampered by the time lag since the woman's death, the mystery surrounding Ms. Elliott, and the fact that she wasn't known well to neighbors.
Few details
Sgt. Newsom said police have spoken with Ms. Elliott's mother, who "is prepared that it's her but we're not prepared to say it is."
Police have released few details of the investigation, which began Friday afternoon when security workers entered the apartment and discovered the body. The neighbor said the dead woman was face-down on Ms. Elliott's bed. Yellow police tape still covers her first-floor apartment door.
The way Ms. Elliott lived, neighbors and police agreed Sunday, complicates the investigation.
Ms. Elliott moved into apartment No. 3 in September, possibly from the Dayton area. She had a day job but also apparently worked as a dancer at night. Earlier this month, an eviction letter was affixed to her mailbox, which is routine for residents who are more than five days late in rent payment. Ms. Elliott lived alone and rarely spoke to her new neighbors. Her name was on neither her mailbox nor her door.
"I saw her one time putting her key in her door, and I said "Hello' and she didn't even speak back," the neighbor said. "But she was a person and everybody deserves respect. . . . I just hope her soul is resting in peace."
She said she overheard investigators in the hallway say Ms. Elliott's red car was missing, which police declined to confirm or deny.
Police also declined to address whether Ms. Elliott's door was locked or whether anything was missing from her home. The neighbor said she's certain Ms. Elliott's door had been locked for weeks.
Who has the key?
All apartments in that unit, she said, have deadbolts that make it impossible to lock the door from the outside without a key.
A blue note was on Ms. Elliott's door for about two weeks. The woman who spoke with The Enquirer said it read "something important, page me" and a number. Police said Sunday the note apparently was left by a friend and isn't a factor in the investigation.
Sgt. Newsom urged anyone with potential information to call Crimestoppers at 352-3040. "You never know if someone has one grain of info that's a key to the puzzle," he said.
"This is consuming us, day and night. . . . There are a lot of roadblocks in this case."
