Murder victim's remains unclaimed

A mentally retarded Fayette County woman was stomped to death and her body burned in a fire pit behind her adoptive parents home in 1992.

Eleven years later, the family has yet to claim her remains, a coroner's investigator said.

Officials from the Fayette County Coroner's Office have scoured state motor vehicle records and post office documents trying to find Helen Gillin's adoptive mother, who was acquitted in the woman's death. Police said Roberta Gillin moved out of her Masontown home shortly after her trial last year.

Officials also have searched to no avail for Helen Gillin's adoptive sister, Mary Jo Overly, said Roger Victor, the coroner's office field investigator. Helen Gillin's adoptive father, James Gillin, was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life plus five to 14 years in prison in her death. If no one claims Helen Gillin's remains by Labor Day, the coroner's office will bury them in the county cemetery.