By Jennifer Edwards
The Cincinnati Enquirer

ANDERSON TOWNSHIP - Detectives Thursday continued a homicide investigation of a hair stylist with two grown sons whose body was found in the trunk of her abandoned convertible near a gravel pit Wednesday.

"We have not arrested or charged anyone, but we do have numerous leads we are pursuing," said Steve Barnett, spokesman for the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office. "There are several people we want to talk to."

He declined to elaborate. The cause of death was not released.

The body of Gail Sims, 46, of Union Township, Clermont County, was found when a deputy responded to the 7200 block of Broadwell Road near Round Bottom Road about 10:50 a.m. to check on an abandoned vehicle, the sheriff's office said.

The deputy spotted a 1998 white Mitsubishi convertible off the side of a gravel road. The body was discovered in the trunk.

Sims' co-workers at Noggins salon off Beechmont Avenue where she worked for at least 12 years, were shaken by her death. They described a woman who loved rock music, dancing and zipping around in her convertible.

They last saw her at work Saturday. On Monday, her day off, she called in and asked for a sick day on Tuesday to take care of a personal matter, said her manager, Linda Nichols.

"I want everyone to know that Gail was a great person," Nichols said. "It's just such a tragedy she had to be taken. She's had a tough life. Both her parents were dead by the time she was 18."

Neighbors along Terrace View Drive, where Sims lived in a modest ranch house, said they last saw her Monday. She had been living there with a boyfriend.

Outside Sims' home Thursday, two garbage cans without their lids stood next to the mailbox, untouched since the garbage was picked up Wednesday morning.

Sims' sons have been out of state visiting a relative, Nichols said.

The boys' former baby sitter, Teresa Slater of Mount Orab, dropped by the house in tears to tape a note to the door, asking them to call her.

"I know they are going to be a mess," Slater, 28, said.

E-mail jedwards@enquirer.com