On November 5, 1997 the decomposing body of 29-year-old White/Caucasian female Darla Sue Scott was discovered in a shallow grave off Hangman Valley Road, south of Spokane, Washington. A local resident walking his dog found her. Investigators determined Scott had been shot twice in the head with a small-caliber handgun and that two plastic bags had been placed over her head; she was found wearing only a blouse.

Scott had a history of prostitution and drug use and became linked to a pattern of killings in the Spokane area in the mid-to-late 1990s. The cases shared gunshot deaths and the distinctive use of plastic bags over victims’ heads. Semen recovered from Scott’s body later matched Robert Lee Yates Jr., who was identified as the prime suspect and arrested in April 2000; he confessed to multiple murders and, in a Spokane County plea agreement, received a 408-year sentence.

Did anyone who knew Darla or who was in that area in 1997 notice anything unusual around Hangman Valley Road?