Alameda County Sheriff has identified 23-year-old Karina Banta of Hayward as the woman whose body was found dead in a landfill near rural Livermore on New Year's Eve.
Authorities say an autopsy Thursday didn't find any injuries indicating she had been killed. The cause of her death is listed as undetermined pending toxicology results.
Banta struggled with substance abuse, mental illness, and homelessness, officials said.
The last time she was in contact with her family was in November. “It is unknown where and who she was last seen with prior to her death,” a statement from the Alameda County sheriff’s office said on Thursday night. “We need assistance in filling in that timeline and answering some questions.” Officials say she may have been dead for weeks.
investigators believe Banta died in another city, possibly in a green waste bin, and was carried in a garbage truck to San Leandro, where it was transferred with a load of waste to a larger truck heading to the landfill.
