Woman killed in Pleasanton; boyfriend sought for questioning
Sunday December 15, 2002PLEASANTON, Calif. (AP) Police spent Saturday on the lookout for the ex-boyfriend of a woman who was found dead in a hotel room a day earlier, the city's first homicide in more than five years.
The woman's identity would not be released until the coroner's examination could be completed, police said.
The woman's body was found Friday at Summerfield Suites hotel near a mall. Police were trying to locate her ex-boyfriend, Michael Purdy, for questioning.
The woman's body suffered significant physical trauma, police said.
``She was assaulted with an as-yet-to-be-identified weapon,'' said Pleasanton police Sgt. Brian Lawrence.
She had been living at the hotel for several months since moving to the area from Streamwood, Ill. earlier this year.
Purdy arrived from Oswego, Ill, on Thursday and the woman allegedly picked him up at the Greyhound bus station in Oakland, authorities said.
``We would obviously like to talk to him,'' Laurence said. ``With him just coming in (Thursday), it's certainly a unique condition.''
Police notified area bus station and airport employees to be on the lookout for Purdy.
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