Look Who it Was Random video

Autopsy Shows Dana Wilkes' Head Still Missing

2,009 views · Published 14 February 2013 · 2:21 · Indexed 29 October 2026

Channel: WTVC NewsChannel 9 · 2013 · News & Politics

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by John Madewell  Disturbing new details emerge as the autopsy for Dana Wilkes is released.Wilkes is the 48-year-old woman who went missing last Novemeber, and was found dismembered off Youngstown Road in Chattanooga.The autopsy provides more information about what happened to Wilkes after her death but exactly how she died remains unknown.The
 very petite woman worked at the Dialysis Clinic on East 3rd Street. 
Friends described her as very sweet and loving. But her last hours 
alive took a very dark turn.On November 25th, a passerby found 
her dismembered body off Youngstown Road. Earlier, her Jeep had been 
found nearby with blood splatter inside.And this morning, with 
the release of the autopsy, it appears her head was removed with some 
kind of tool. The document reads: The head is absent, neck severed at 
C3 (third cervical vertebra); the resection margin shows a pattern 
consistent with tool mark.Her hands were severed at the 
mid-forearm. The autopsy showed all of this happened postmortem. While 
the cause of death remains unknown, the circumstances are consistent 
with homicide. The autopsy also showed Wilkes had methadone and alcohol 
in her system.Police accuse Tony Bigoms of killing Wilkes and abusing her corpse.Back
 in December, her husband, Tom Wilkes, spoke to media in a jailhouse 
interview. He was there on traffic charges and had been there when his 
wife disappeared and her body was discovered.Two times during 
the lengthy interview, he mentioned a man named Tony as being 
responsible for his wife's death. Wilkes said, He made the last phone 
calls to her phone. And I'm thinking he probably tricked her because 
some kind  of way he got her to come out because she trusted him.About
 seven weeks after that interview, Tom Wilkes died of natural causes. 
Before his death, he talked to investigators and identified his wife by 
butterfly and Mickey Mouse tattoos on her legs.But his testimony as a key witness in this case will be missed.Because
 this case is still under investigation, police aren't talking and a 
motive remains unclear. This afternoon, we reached out to Dana Wilkes' 
family but haven't heard back from them.

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