May 26, 2008 9:52 am US/Central
Woman Found Stuffed In Motel Closet Identified
Maratta Walker Was Found In Motel On Foster Avenue On May 20
CHICAGO (Sun-Times Media Wire) ―
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The body of Maratta Walker, 46, was found stuffed in a closet at the Chicago Lodge Motel on Foster Avenue in the Edgewater neighborhood.
CBS
A murdered woman whose naked body was found "stuffed" in the closet of an Edgewater motel room nearly a week ago has been identified.
The body of the woman, identified as Maratta Walker, 46, was found in a hotel room closet by a manager at the Chicago Lodge, 920 W. Foster Ave., on Tuesday, May 20.
Walker, of 1444 S. Spencer Ave. in Berkeley, was pronounced dead on the scene at 3:55 p.m., according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office.
An autopsy determined Walker suffered blunt force trauma from an assault and her death was ruled a homicide, the medical examiner's office said.
Police are still seeking a man who was seen leaving the motel the day her body was discovered. No one was in custody as of early Monday, according to Belmont Area detectives.
A Chicago Lodge manager discovered the body of the heavy-set, black woman after going to the motel room to collect on a bill, Matt Wyatt, 29, a part-time desk clerk at the motel, said.
The manager walked into the motel room about noon and noticed the dark-colored carpet was wet, and later realized the wetness was from spilled blood, Wyatt, a Lake View resident, said. The manager then opened the closet door and found the body of the naked woman.
The manager told Wyatt she could have been decapitated, but it was difficult to tell because the body was in an awkward position, Wyatt said.
According to the medical examiner's office, Walker's body, which was not decapitated, was badly decomposed.
Wyatt said the woman had probably been dead for "some time" because there was a significant odor coming from the room. He also said a black man, possibly in his 40s, in relatively good shape, was seen by a maintenance person leaving the room about 9 a.m. Tuesday.
That man was the same man who had checked into the first-floor room on May 9, Wyatt said. He paid the motel $87 per night.
The man is described as black, between 49 and 57 years old, 6-foot-1 and 215 pounds, according to a Lincoln District police Sgt. Patrick Barker. The man doesn't have a criminal record, and the South Side address he gave on the hotel registration card is not valid, according to the sergeant, who was citing preliminary information.
Police were dispatched to the motel at 12:50 p.m. Tuesday and the man had been seen by hotel staff a few hours prior to that, the sergeant confirmed.
"There was a lot of blood on the scene,'' according to the sergeant.
The body was found in the closet by a maintenance man who observed the man who had rented the room leaving, according to the sergeant, who said the man was not seen using a vehicle and he may be a transient.
"We have interesting things happen [at the motel]," Wyatt said. "But this is my first murder."
Belmont Area detectives are investigating
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2009. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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