Prostitution Suspected in Memphis Mother Found Dead in Ohio

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - New details are emerging Monday about the 36-year-old woman found dead and partially clothed last week at an old rest stop on U.S. 23 at the Pickaway-Franklin county line, near Shephard Road.

Workers for the Ohio Department of Transportation reported finding the woman's body as they cleaned trash cans at the former rest stop area. Authorities used her fingerprints to determine her identity to be Kim Vaughan.

Now, Fox 13 has learned that Vaughan is a mother of three and had a history of prostitution in Tennessee. Speaking to FBI Special Agent Harry Trombitas Monday, Luper was told that Vaughan was last seen at 2 a.m. on July 8 at a truck stop in Tennessee.

Authorities said they are investigating whether she may have gotten involved with a truck driver at some point before her death. In the 1990s, Ohio law enforcement put together a task force to address the incidents of more and more murdered prostitutes being found along Ohio's interstate highways. Trombitas worked as part of that task force.

"Just because they are prostitutes doesn't mean they were asking somebody to kill them," he said. "It's still a crime. It's somebody's mom, somebody's daughter, somebody's sister, so we took it very seriously,"

Trombitas said in cases like Vaughan's he's especially mindful of truck drivers as a potential suspect.

"They're able to commit a crime and be in and out of the state in a very short amount of time," he said. "A very high-risk victim, very mobile offender, very difficult to catch."

As of Monday, no suspects had been named in the case. An autopsy recently conducted did not show signs of trauma.