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ii?iiana-. Library \ Hor ^ejhcc Look inside for special entertainment guide on pages 8 & 9! Tb Gcimecock Founded 1908 Volume 77, No. 20 University of South Carolina . September 21, 1984 Coed's body fo r_ : j Five-day police search leads to wooded area From Staff Reports The intensive search by state, federal and local law enforcement officials for missing USC student Barbara Lynn "Bobbi" Rossi ended last night when police found her body in a heavily wooded area. Rossi's roommates at a Forest Acres apartment last saw her when she left for a physical education class at 8 a.m. Monday. roresi /\cres ponce cniei J.c. Kowe said Rossi was also seen on campus at 11:05 a.m. Monday. SHE WAS last seen about 5:30 p.m. on the steps leading to the walkway ramp beside the Sol Blatt Physical Education Center. She was talking to an unidentified, lightskinned woman, described, as white, 5 feet, 5 inches to 5 feet 9 inches tall, 115 pounds, with dark hair below her shoulders and parted in the middle" and possibly wearing dark clothes.* Richland County Sheriff Frank Powell said his department is still searching for this unidentified woman. She is nwi a 5UJJJCI.I, uui puntc aic cunccriicu ror ner saieiy, ana said learning her whereabouts is even more important now. Rossi missed her Kappa Delta sorority meeting at 6:30 p.m. Monday and didn't attend classes Tuesday. Rowe's office was called about 2:30 p.m. and an investigation begun. * Rossi's car, a 1970- navy blue Volkswagen, S.C. license FRE-146, was seen between 6 and 6:15 p.m. Monday about 22 miles south of Columbia off Old Bluff Road. It was found by two hunters in a soybean field about 1,200 feet _ rr _ i J j' .a i an an oiu uiri roau. "WHOEVER USED that road had to know it was there,"' Powell said in a press conference Wednesday. The hunters told the landowner about the car and authorities were notified Tuesday morning, but the car had disappeared before they arrived. Powell said apartment complexes and parking garages and lots were searched tor the car. Numerous cars matSee "ChronologY." pafle 3 ^-' -.r^L Z!32^Siiisiii;'::isiiissiii#i^^^6 ft. S -Si "_ Preparations for the search Lt. Rob Robertson (left), Carl Stokes, Systems Vice President for Lav* of USC police, discuss plans to distribute fliers describing the unider i lund after Search on fi By John Deiner and Ann Farmer Riplilon^ PnnnMi ~ ? -? ? mviliuuu V^UUIU) OUV11I1 9 UCJJU11C) found the body of Bobbi Rossi, a 20-year-old USC student missing since * Monday, yesterday in a wooded area off Old Bluff Road. Richland County Sheriff Frank Powell said in a news conference last night that the body was found about 7:45 p.m. near an area where a woman's blouse had been found by one of 25 USC students helping in the search. Powell said police had no suspects as r\ f 1 atA lact ninKt 1 n o Uo v/? iulv auoi 1115111 111 a nt Ldiitu "the most baffling" in his 25 years on the force. "WE WILL leave no stone unturned to solve this case," he said. Dr. Joel Sexton, a pathologist from Newberry, was flown to the site in a sheriff's department helicopter. His in vestigation of the crime scene was expected to last into early morning hours. The official cause of death may be released later today, Powell said. Students from Rossi's sorority, Kappa Delta, and from Sigma Nu fraternity had spent most of yesterday searching for her in an area near the soybean field where her blue Volkswagen Beetle had been seen Monday. THROUGHOUT THE day clothing had been found in the area, he said, although only the blouse belonged to Rossi. The student who found the blouse called for assistance, and deputies swept into the woods and found the body. Powell said three deputies went Photo by Joseph Garrwtt / Enforcement and Safety, and Danny Baker Hitiea young woman. intenciup Ill II wi ? w Br unidentifi '^sf- >".' , \ mm, :m Mmmtl The body of Bobbi Rossi, left, was found 48 about 12 miles southeast of Columbia local, state and federal officials for the ! on the right may have been the last seen woman, whom is described as "a key ti within three feet of the body and then backed off, trying to follow the same path so as not to disturb possible evidence. The sheriff said he was "not at liberty" to discuss the condition of the body. The key to the case will be finding the young woman who reportedly was walking with Rossi shortly before she disappeared, Powell said. "WE FEEL it is extremely urgent that we find the blue Volkswagon and the woman who was with Miss Rossi," he said. Powell said the search for the unidentified woman was to continue desperately. 1 he department will take the investigation to the USC campus to try and find the unknown woman, who is about 21 years old, although the sheriff said he did not know if she was a USC student. "I can't overemphasize the fact that it is absolutely necessary for us to find who this person is," Powell said, holding up a composite sketch of the unidentified woman. "The girl is a key to a lot of unanswered questions. "1 want to see anyone who thinks they've ever seen her. If any student has any information, we want to talk to them," he said. POWELL SAID the university has hppn r?f ''invulimhlp hpln" tr? thf? in. vestigation, citing efforts from individual students, fraternities, sororities, the USC Division of Law Enforcement and Safety and USC President James Holderman. The sheriff's department received more than 40 calls yesterday with possible identities of the unknown woman, Powell said, adding that the calls did not provide the woman's identification. The unknown woman is described as white, between 5 feet 5 inches and 5 feet 9 inches and weighing about 115 pounds. She has dark hair, parted in the middle, hanging below the shoulders and light skin. She may have been wearing dark clothes when seen search ed woman m W 1 ?9 KL .' % \ \ . i 111 " ? jfiSB jggg?g?\v j*? mWMmii' ? _j iTj^. , A Byx9? ?e M u^" * * w I yesterday in a wooded area off of Highway . The discovery ended a five day search by 20-year-old USC coed. The woman pictured with Rossi. Police are now searching for the ) a tot of questions." with Rossi about 5:30 Monday afternoon. "I attended USC many years ago, and I know it's nothing uncommon for a student to walk up and start a conversation. It could be that (the woman) knew nothing, but something she saw may end up clearing this for us," Powell said. THE SHORT amount of time that passed between the last time Rossi was seen and the time her car was spotted off Old Bluff Road surprised Powell, he said. ' ' Hnw chp cnnlH Kn lol nn - V ?T >J.?V vv/uiu wv IUIWII IUUIUI) at 5:30 in the afternoon from the physical education complex is beyond me. . . she was the perfect AllAmerican girl, she would not go off with any stranger," he said. "It's just a puzzle." "The time frame is so close. . . we had one or two officers eet on the ramp and walk to where she may have parked," he said, adding that it took only 28 minutes for the officers to drive to the soybean field. Only 35 minutes elapsed between the time she was seen on the ramp and the time her car was seen, he said, which leaves only seven minutes unaccounted for. i Inside Classified 16 Dateline 2 Entertainment 7 Opinion 6 Sports 10 Sisters waited.Barbara Rossi's ia. i i sui unty sisters waited anxiously (luring the search for her 3 Bedlam Hour.A band appropriately named for the event they'll be playing at tonight ? the All Nighter. 7 ( nmopopku VU Itlun Tlmrmlci TTQ^"' TO, Ifiuv l/WIIO. VJUV/ faces Duke, an ACC rival tomorrow night 10