How woman died still puzzles officials

It’s been more than a year since a Sedalia woman’s mysterious death, but police are no closer to figuring out how she died.

Monica Clark, 34, died from a traumatic brain injury Dec. 3, 2007. Her husband, Travis, found her in the front seat of her car after she had left for work, and the car rolled into a neighbor’s garage.

Pettis County Coroner Robert “Skip” Smith previously said the accident couldn’t have caused the injury.

Sedalia Detective Adam Hendricks said Friday the case was inactivated, but it can be reopened any time a lead arises.

“It is going to be considered an undetermined death,” he said.

Officers have struggled for breaks in the case. The medical examiner said Clark suffered “soft blunt head trauma,” but no other signs of physical injury, Hendricks said. Clark had no bruises or broken blood vessels under the skin. A “soft” head trauma could be caused by being smacked hard with a couch cushion, falling on a bed or any number of other things, Hendricks said. The medical examiner was unable to give specific scenarios for the cause of the trauma.

The examiner did rule out an aneurysm or the use of “whippets,” nitrous oxide packaged in small canisters, which husband Travis Clark previously suggested.

Another challenge to the case is the lack of witnesses. Travis Clark was the last one to see his wife, and “he did not cooperate in the investigation,” Hendricks said.