On March 1, 1992, truck driver Barbara Leverton stopped at the Bitter Creek
On March 1, 1992, truck driver Barbara Leverton stopped at the Bitter Creek rest area on Interstate 80 in Sweetwater County, Wyoming, around 4:25 p.m. to switch fuel tanks. Spotting what she thought were trash bags on a snowy embankment, she discovered the nude body of a woman, estimated to be 24–32 years old, of Hispanic or Native American descent, about 5 feet 8 inches tall, and 125–130 pounds. She had dark brown or black collar-length hair, a cesarean scar, a left calf scar, and a rose tattoo on her right breast from a Tucson parlor, wearing only a gold ring on her left ring finger. Nearby were pink underwear and gray sweatpants.
Leverton alerted authorities via radio, and Sweetwater County officials secured the scene. The autopsy revealed the woman, dubbed “Bitter Creek Betty,” was ra*ped, sodomized, beaten, manually strangled, and killed by an ice pick through her nostril into her brain, likely between October 1991 and February 1992. Her body was dumped, preserved by cold. The case linked to the “Great Basin Murders,” including a similar Sheridan County victim.
Despite decades of investigation, including hair isotope analysis suggesting Star Valley residency, facial reconstructions, and NamUs entries, Betty remained unidentified until 2022. A 2014 DNA match tied her case to a 1991 Tennessee murder and the Sheridan victim, implicating Clark Perry Baldwin, a former trucker from Waterloo, Iowa. 
Arrested in May 2020 via genetic genealogy, Baldwin was charged with first-degree murder in Wyoming and Tennessee. In 2022, Betty was identified as Irene Vasquez; the Sheridan victim was named Cindi Arleen Estrada in July 2025. 
Baldwin, convicted in Tennessee for Pamela McCall’s 1991 murder, awaits Wyoming trials. A $250,000 FBI reward remains as of October 2025, highlighting the dangers of interstate routes and the ongoing pursuit of justice for Vasquez.
Arrested in May 2020 via genetic genealogy, Baldwin was charged with first-degree murder in Wyoming and Tennessee. In 2022, Betty was identified as Irene Vasquez; the Sheridan victim was named Cindi Arleen Estrada in July 2025. Baldwin, convicted in Tennessee for Pamela McCall’s 1991 murder, awaits Wyoming trials. A $250,000 FBI reward remains as of October 2025, highlighting the dangers of interstate routes and the ongoing pursuit of justice for Vasquez.
