Anna Rose Ewing, 42, a Black woman from Kansas City, Missouri, was found dead on July 14, 2004, in the Prospect corridor, an area known for open sex work and vacant properties. Police discovered her body at 2608 East 23rd Street, hidden in a backyard beneath brush near a raised concrete pad. She was nude except for a bra partly on and a knitted garment around her neck; her legs and feet were muddy. Her body showed fresh abrasions, bruising, and bleeding around an eye and brow, indicating force and struggle.

Investigators collected biological evidence, including material from her body and blood beneath her fingernails; later testing identified the eventual suspect as a possible contributor to some samples. In early September 2004 an unidentified man called 911, directing police to several bodies and saying he had placed them; he specifically referenced a woman on 23rd and Prospect, a reference linked to Ewing. A woman named Cherry Chadbourne reported that Terry A. Blair had said he planned to kill prostitutes, and Blair became the central suspect.

Questions remain about any other witnesses or evidence that could fill gaps in the timeline around July 14, 2004; anyone with information about Anna Ewing or that stretch of 23rd Street is asked to come forward.