Homicide suspected in death of woman

A homeless Eugene woman has been found dead in Clackamas County, a victim of suspected homicide, according to a sheriff's office spokesman.

Officers found Dana Crippen, 50, on a bike path at 1 a.m. Friday morning in a mostly commercial area where Johnson Creek Boulevard crosses Interstate 205, said Sgt. James Rhodes, spokesman for the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office. Crippen's body was found on the bike path below the boulevard and just west of I-205. That's several miles north of Oregon City in the Happy Valley area.

"A deputy sheriff was flagged down by a passer-by, who said, 'I think there's a guy who's really hurt, if not dead,'" Rhodes said.

It turned out to be Crippen, Rhodes said.

An autopsy revealed that she died of "traumatic homicidal violence," Rhodes said. He said investigators have declined to be more specific, but they believe she died very close to the time her body was discovered.

Crippen was interviewed and photographed by The Register-Guard in January in a story about efforts to count the number of homeless people in Oregon. She had completed a homelessness registration form at The Dining Room, an alternative soup kitchen in downtown Eugene sponsored by FOOD for Lane County.

"If I can fill out a form that helps tell the story of homelessness, I'm going to do it," she said then. "Being counted benefits all of us."

Crippen also said then that she had observed a growing homeless population and a stagnant number of shelters that can't keep up with the demand.

"I've only been indoors a few nights this winter," she said.

Rhodes said Monday that Crippen's family had been notified of her death, but he did not know where her family members were located.

Crippen was well-known in the Eugene homeless community, said Keith Heath, manager at the Service Station, a day center for homeless adults operated by St. Vincent de Paul of Lane County.

Heath, who has managed the Service Station on Highway 99 for seven years, said Crippen was a sporadic visitor during all of that time.

She would come in to shower, do her laundry, grab a bite to eat and watch an occasional movie, he said.

Like many homeless people, she traveled with a buddy, a boyfriend in her case, in order to stay safe, he said.

"Most of the people we see, they generally roll with a buddy. They watch each other's backs," Heath said.

Heath last saw Crippen close to Halloween and said it wasn't unusual for her to be gone for weeks at a time.

He described her as a pleasant woman who was friendly and never caused any trouble.

"It's a major tragedy. It's sad. Nobody deserves to get murdered. We're a family here at the Service Station. She had a lot of friends here," he said.

Investigators have asked anyone with information on what might have happened to contact them, especially anyone in the area of the bicycle path west of I-205 in the late hours of Thanksgiving or before 1 a.m. Friday.

The confidential tip line is 503-723-4949. Online, go to www.co.clackamas.or.us/sheriff/tip.htm to get an e-mail form.

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