Lavera Chatman, 23 Body Located/Murder/ Found 12/2005
Body found in Birmingham identified as Tenn. woman 12/29/2005, 11:57 p.m. CT The Associated Press BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — A decomposed body found in a field this week was identified as that of a Memphis, Tenn., woman missing since Aug. 24, police said. Lavera Chatman, 23, was last seen leaving a strip club early that morning in Birmingham, where she was visiting with friends. Her death is being considered a homicide, although police did not reveal a specific cause. Chatman's friends told police that she left the club with strangers and her family filed a missing person report when they returned to Memphis without her. A crew of workers clearing a field found the decomposed body Monday afternoon near a roadway. Authorities looked at missing persons reports, and obtained dental records from Chatman's family to identify the body Thursday. She has likely been dead for more than four months, Sgt. Cory Hardiman said. "Based on her condition," he said, "I would assume she was killed at the time, or shortly after, she left the club." ___ Information from: The Birmingham News http://www.al.com/newsflash/regional/index.ssf?/base/news-18/1135921162275180.xml&storylist=alabamanews