Hunt for clues ongoing as family of Nashville woman found dead in Erie County seek answers
A Tennessee woman found dead along Interstate 90 in Greene Township on Nov. 10 wasn't one to travel great distances, her daughter said.
Michelle Lee Tayse struck to areas of East Nashville, Kelsie Cosby told the Erie Times-News in late November.
"I don't see her going to Pennsylvania by herself willingly. I just don't see that," Cosby said.
Cosby and other members of Tayse's family, which includes seven children and four grandchildren, suspect that Tayse was kidnapped and was taken roughly 600 miles from her home before her body was found off the north shoulder of the westbound I-90 lanes in Erie County. Firefighters discovered the body when they were called to the area to douse a reported brush fire at about 2:30 a.m. on Nov. 10.
Erie County Coroner Lyell Cook ruled the death of Tayse, 48, a homicide. She died of multiple stab wounds and had burn injuries to her body, Cook said following autopsy.
Who took Tayse to Pennsylvania and dumped her body in Erie County remains the focus of police in two states as the homicide investigation closes in on six weeks. Pennsylvania State Police investigators have traveled to Nashville and spent a few days canvassing areas and speaking with people as part of the ongoing probe.
Some witnesses reported seeing Tayse with a person in Nashville before her disappearance, and investigators are trying to identify that person, Lt. Mark Weindorf, crime section supervisor for state police Troop E in Lawrence Park Township, said Tuesday.
Cosby said the family heard rumors that Tayse was possibly seen with a truck driver, and getting into a tractor-trailer, before her disappearance.
"She did not travel a lot, which is why this comes as a surprise," she said.
State police investigators are working with the Nashville Metropolitan Police Department and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations, Weindorf said. They are actively pursuing leads and are awaiting the results of forensic testing on evidence collected so far, he said.
Tayse's family, like the Pennsylvania State Police and authorities in Tennessee, have been looking for answers as they work to raise enough money to give their mother and grandmother a proper burial. A GoFundMe account created shortly after her death had raised $560 on its $10,000 goal as of Tuesday.
Cosby described her mother as very family-oriented who loved her children and her grandchildren. She said Tayse "lived life on her terms," and described her as a very giving person who would give someone the shirt off her back even if it was the only shirt she had.
At some point in the future, members of Tayse's family want to travel to Erie County and set up a memorial where her body was found, Cosby said in late November.
For now, the search for answers continues.
Anyone with information that could assist in the ongoing investigation into Tayse's murder is asked to call state police at 814-898-1641.
Contact Tim Hahn at thahn@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNhahn.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Hunt for answers ongoing in killing of Tennessee woman found on I-90
