The homicide squad is actively investigating the death of a woman whose decapitated, nude body was found in a wooded area near Halsey Manor Road and the Long Island Expressway in Manorville.The body was found last Saturday morning by a Manorville woman who was walking her dog near a sump and blacktopped roadway. Fitzpatrick said that the partially decomposed body was probably dumped at the scene.

        "No cause of death has been determined at this time," Fitzpatrick said. "When bodies begin to decompose testing becomes more intricate."

Mutilated tattool        Detectives said that the victim appears to be a white or Hispanic female, 20 to 30 years old, 5-feet to 5-feet-5-inches tall and weighing between 110 and 125 pounds.

         The homicide squad has released photos of a purple and silver speckle decal that was found on at least one of her toes and a tattoo on her back located in the area of her right kidney. Police speculate that a portion of the tattoo was mutilated in an attempt to destroy it as a possible means of identification of the victim. One portion of the tattoo appears to be the wing of an angel or an eagle. Detectives said she may have had tattoos on other parts of her body.

        In November of 2000, three pheasant hunters were shocked when their bird dogs sniffed out the remains of a young woman's body that was stuffed inside several garbage bags. The body was partially decomposed and was also decapitated and the hands were cut off. The woman, described as a Caucasian with medium brown hair, in her late twenties or early thirties, was about 5 feet 3 inches tall and weighed about 100 to 120 pounds. Fitzpatrick said that her identity has never been determined.

        According to the New York Post, Suffolk detectives are linking a 1997 Valley Stream murder to the Manorville bodies. "There are many differences between all three cases," Fitzpatrick said. He declined to elaborate.