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Woman found slain, with her car missing
By LEANORA MINAI, Times Staff Writer
LEALMAN -- Just after midnight Tuesday, a loud drunken couple was arguing in the street, banging on doors and begging people for a ride. In the morning, Alta Nauman, a 51-year-old waitress, was found dead in her trailer home. Her car was missing. Investigators will not say whether there is a connection between the unidentified couple and Nauman's killing, the first homicide of the year in unincorporated Pinellas County. But neighbors are scared. "This is too close," said Michelle Gonzalez, 28, who was watching television when a couple knocked on her door and asked for a ride to 43rd Street. The Sheriff's Office has no suspects but is searching for Nauman's car, a teal, 1993 Dodge Shadow, license tag T59KEM. Nauman, who has a son and two young granddaughters, lived alone at Star Trailer Court, 3001 58th Ave. N. Her health was poor, but she had a lot of friends and was known to drive people to the supermarket or doctor's appointments. "This gal was a nice gal," said Ron Edmonds, 56, who manages Star Trailer Court. On Monday night, Nauman ate a manicotti dinner in her trailer with her boyfriend, Robert Outhouse, and neighbor, Odell McLean. McLean's oven was broken, so they baked the Italian dish in Nauman's home. McLean left and went to bed, and Outhouse stayed until 9:45 p.m. "She had taken a pain pill, and she was getting pretty sleepy," said Outhouse, 61. "I more or less got her tucked in and went home." Just before 7 a.m. Tuesday, McLean stopped by Nauman's trailer, just across from his trailer. "The door was cracked open and her car was gone, so I knew something was funny," said McLean, 29. He found her on the bed. She had suffered upper-body trauma. Sheriff's officials refused to discuss the report of a couple soliciting a ride from residents in the area of 31st Street N and 58th Avenue. Gonzalez, Nauman's neighbor, said a couple came to her door at 12:33 a.m. Tuesday. Gonzalez opened the door but kept the chain lock fastened. They reeked of alcohol, she said. "They were drunk and high on drugs," said Gonzalez, who armed herself with a baseball bat. Gonzalez said she recognized the woman from the neighborhood but not the man. "She was dressed for the beach -- "hoochie mama' shorts and her bra," Gonzalez said of the woman. Nauman's family members could not be reached Tuesday. She had a close circle of friends at Star Trailer Court and worked as a waitress at Waffle House on St. Pete Beach. She had recovered from tuberculosis and recently received worrisome news about a recent mammogram. "She was always helping other people around here," Gonzalez said.
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From the Times South Pinellas desks |
