Louisville, Ky. (WHAS11) - WHAS11 has learned new information about an ongoing murder investigation.
Dorie Eppler's co-workers were too shaken Friday to talk on camera, but they told WHAS11’s Adam Walser that Eppler was a beloved member of the Ollie’s Trolley staff since 1997.
In fact, she was nicknamed "The Fry Lady”, since she was the one who prepared Ollie's famous french fries.
Those who knew her are hoping an arrest will come quickly.
The line at Ollie's Trolley was longer than normal, as concerned customers showed up for lunch and the latest word about Dorie
Eppler, the quiet woman who served them fries with a smile.
Eppler was last seen when she left work Tuesday night. She never made it in Wednesday or Thursday.
Catherine Wells works next door at D ' Nalley's Restaurant.
She says Eppler sometimes also helped out there.
“I always seen her everyday just about,” said Wells. “She'd be at the window and she'd wave at me when I was going to the car.”
“Oh she was tiny, was she ever. She really was. Didn't have no teeth, God love her. She was so sweet though. She really was a little bitty thing,” said Wells.
A neighbor found Eppler's 4-foot-11 inch, 80 pound body stuffed in a large suitcase behind a dumpster.
Eppler lived just two blocks away, in a rundown rooming house she shared with five other people.
WHAS11 News learned investigators spent several hours at her home yesterday.
“I didn't know she had a job,” said neighbor TaJuan Manning. “It is very surprising. Like I said, I just know her from walking through here.”
“I think that's the most horrible thing I've ever heard of,” said Wells. “It’s horrible. Somebody would do something like that to a little old thing like that. She couldn't help herself, she's so little.”
“We're all on edge,” said Old Louisville resident Lynn Collins. “We're all concerned because if they don't catch these guys, it could happen to someone else.”
An autopsy was conducted Friday, but the preliminary results have not yet been released.
Anyone with information should contact police at 574-LMPD.
