Tanya Gatlin was 27 when her body was discovered in an abandoned house at 413 E. 43rd Ave. in Gary, Indiana. Her remains were among several left in vacant buildings across the city; her identity remained unknown for months until DNA analysis confirmed who she was in February of the year after her death.

Investigators later linked Gatlin’s killing to Darren Deon Vann after the investigation into another victim led police to him. Vann confessed and led authorities to multiple crime scenes where he had left bodies. An affidavit says Gatlin and another woman, Kristine Williams, lived together and that Vann allegedly picked them up before they were killed. Authorities say he lured victims with promises of money for sex and strangled them, and that he described anger over a prior prison sentence as a motive.

Anyone who knew Tanya, where she spent her time, or has information about her last movements is asked to come forward.