Police are looking for possible witnesses in connection with the woman found dead on South Salem Street

Detectives are asking the public for help in locating a driver who may have seen a 28-year-old Salem woman shortly before she was found dead on a south Salem street.

Salem police have not released any details about Carla F. Vasquez’s death, other than describing it as suspicious. The agency said last week that it had not yet determined the circumstances of her death.

Vasquez was found dead just before 2 a.m. on Thursday, May 23, in the 1000 block of Southeast Rural Avenue, which runs adjacent to the South Salem High School athletic fields.

Surveillance video from near the area showed a motorist heading east on Rural Avenue and passing Southeast Church Street minutes before someone called police to report a woman lying in the roadway, Salem police said.

REGARD: Surveillance video shows driver

Police described the vehicle as light-colored, possibly a van or mid-size crossover SUV.

“Detectives are asking the public for help in locating this possible witness,” Salem police said in a press release on Friday.

They urged the driver and anyone who knows him or has information about the case to call Criminal Investigation at 503-588-8477.

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Police continue to investigate the ‘suspicious death’ of a woman found on South Salem Street

Contact reporter Ardeshir Tabrizian: (email protected) or 503-929-3053.

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Ardeshir Tabrizian has covered criminal justice and housing for the Salem Reporter since September 2021. A native Oregonian, his award-winning watchdog journalism has traversed the state. He has reported for The Oregonian, Eugene Weekly and Malheur Enterprise.