Authorities in Missouri want to talk to an Iowa man in connection with the death of a woman found at her home in the town of St. James, about 70 miles southwest of St. Louis. Phelps County Detective D-Andrew Davis says Renee Zeman may have had a romantic relationship with the man they’re looking for.
Davis says the dead woman and the man they’re looking for knew each other, and may have been “past boyfriend and girlfriend,” but they’re not completely sure — and that’s why they want to talk to the man.
Detective Davis says the body of the 63-year-old Zeman was discovered by relatives at her home. She had recently returned to the house from Iowa, within the last week. The detective says she’d been seen, “out and around the neighborhood.” Davis says the man they’re seeking, 68-year-old Panta Leon Salvatore Salinas, may also have been in Missouri recently though he may be on the way back to Iowa.
Authorities say they think he’s on the road, possibly to Iowa where he’s from though they’re not 100-percent sure of that. Davis says the man could be driving a green Chrysler minivan or a silver and white Ford F-250 pickup… both with Iowa license plates.
“We’re kind of anxious to talk with him, to see what little he may have, or if he may have the story, at least for background, at the bare minimum.” Davis says the 63-year-old woman was found dead in the bathroom of her home by relatives who called 9-1-1. St. James is a town of about four-thousand people about twenty miles northeast of Rolla, Missouri.