Reward is offered for killer of 2 women

Police want to speak to people who knew the victims' habits and associates.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR PENNSYLVANIA STAFF
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Authorities are hoping someone might have information that will lead to the killer of Mandy McLaren and Tammie Mullins.
A $2,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for their deaths is being offered through the Pennsylvania Crime Stoppers, state police announced at a Tuesday afternoon news conference.
The two New Castle women were found Wednesday in a wooded area off an access road along Pa. Route 168 in Taylor Township. Their bodies were about 60 feet apart.
"No one deserves to die the way these women did with their bodies abandoned out in a field," said Matthew Mangino, the Lawrence County district attorney.
The county coroner has not formally issued a ruling in their deaths, but authorities are treating the investigation as a homicide.
Coroner Russell Noga said they will need another week or two to look at tissue samples and toxicology tests.
"It appears they will probably be homicides from what we found at the scene and finding two young women in their age group so close together," he added.
Coroner's findings
Noga has said that Mullins had been dead three to four weeks before her body was discovered last week and McLaren was dead for three to four days.
Authorities believe the same person killed both women because their bodies were found so close together in a secluded area.
A state police news release stated that both women were "alleged to be prostitutes from the New Castle area."
Pennsylvania State Police Cpl. Cheryl Michalski said they included that detail in the release to inform people that the women led a more transient lifestyle.
She said that makes the investigation more difficult. Investigators want to speak to anyone who knew the victims and their habits, mannerisms and associates.
This will help authorities assemble a timeline regarding their whereabouts up to their deaths, she said.
"We do have leads we are following up on. We are still actively investigating this case, and if anybody knows anything or talked to these women, we want to speak to them," Michalski said.
Mullins was reported missing Aug. 5 by her husband, Jeff. Mangino said McLaren was missing for two to three days before her body was discovered.
Police said they also want to speak to anyone who may have shown an unusual interest in news reports of the deaths or anyone who left the area abruptly after the discovery of the bodies.
A Taylor Township man facing unrelated rape charges was questioned and his car impounded as part of the investigation, authorities said. But Mangino has said the man is not a suspect.
Michalski said rumors in the community that there are other missing women or more dead bodies found in Taylor Township are untrue.
Noga said cadaver dogs were used to scour the area where the bodies were found. "So far these are the only two," he said.