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Police renew plea to help identify woman found in ocean near Vancouver beach

Her body was discovered eight months ago.
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Anyone who recognizes this woman who was found dead at Spanish Banks is asked to contact VPD.

It's been eight months since a woman was discovered floating in the ocean off of Spanish Banks.

A tugboat crew spotted her around 9 p.m. on Sept. 29, 2022; she was pronounced dead a short time later in the hospital.

When the woman was found, she had a backpack, but there was no identification inside. An inflatable blue kayak and orange life vest nearby didn't provide any clues either. While a vial of insulin was also found, it hasn't led to any answers.

Investigators have checked her fingerprints and run DNA on databases, surveillance footage has been reviewed, and national authorities have been brought in. 

The police have asked the public a couple of times for help figuring out who the woman was. While more than two dozen tips have come in, her identity is still unknown.

Now, eight months after she died, they're renewing that plea.

"We are re-releasing a composite sketch, showing what she may have looked like at the time of death, as well as a video, with the hope that this may lead to information that can help us identify her," says Vancouver Police Department (VPD) spokesperson Const. Tania Visintin in a press release.

The VPD describes her as a Black woman between 30 and 40 years old. At the time of her death, she was about 185 lbs; no height has been given. She had brown eyes and freckles, police say. Her hair was short, black, and curly, pulled into a bun.

With files from Allie Turner