ELYRIA TWP. — Lorain County Coroner Paul Matus said Tuesday that the woman whose severed limb was discovered March 29 has been identified, but her name won’t be released until a news conference today. The woman’s family still needs to be fully notified, he said.

The news conference will be streamed live hear at Chroniclet.com starting at 2 p.m.

DNA taken from the limb — a right foot attached to the lower calf — was compared with a sample from a 56-year-old Lorain woman who was last seen around 4 a.m. March 26.

The woman was last seen walking to work from her Lorain home.

The severed limb, still clad in a dark-colored sock, was found by four teenagers near the abandoned railroad trestle that crosses state Route 57 just south of state Route 254.

The teenagers spotted the foot while walking to a friend’s house and at first believed it to be fake.

When they passed the foot again on their way home, they took a closer look and poked it with sticks, which convinced them it was real. One of the teenager’s mothers called deputies.

County sheriff’s deputies investigating the limb have not found the rest of the woman’s body, despite using a helicopter and dogs to scour the area near where the limb was found. No other blood or tissue was found either.

Matus has said the limb appeared to have been severed by a traumatic impact with a car bumper, guardrail or road sign. It would have been a fatal injury without immediate medical attention, he has said.

Investigators have received numerous inquiries from around the country, but Matus said last week that the missing Lorain woman was the best lead. She was white, like the severed limb, and was about the right age and height he suspected the owner of the leg had been based on his examination of the limb.

Calls to sheriff’s deputies were not returned Tuesday.

EDIT:Unable to broadcast live, We will have video coverage soon.
Contact Brad Dicken at 329-7147 or bdicken@chroniclet.com.