A woman whose body was found in woods near the end of Dubois Road late Tuesday afternoon died of multiple stab wounds and cuts, a spokesman for the state medical examiner's office who would not identify himself said yesterday.
The woman, who was in her 20s, had cuts and bruises on her upper body and on her hands, county police said.
Officer Randy Bell, a police spokesman, said homicide detectives had tentatively identified the woman but that her name would not be released until it was confirmed through fingerprint records, probably today.
He said cuts on her hands could be an indication that she was trying to fend off an attacker.
The body was discovered shortly before 3 p.m. near some woods on a vacant lot next to a house in the 300 block of DuBois Road.
The man who owns the lot, Robert Finley of the 1300 block of Washington Drive, was searching for a deer stand with a friend, Mark Jacobs of the 1100 block of Stiarna Court in Arnold.
Mr. Jacobs was the first to notice the body, police said.
A woman at Mr. Finley's home said he would be out of town for a week.
Mr. Jacobs, reached at home yesterday, said, "It was kind of grisly."
Officer Bell said detectives did not know how long the woman had been dead.
The woman was wearing black nylon stretch pants, a light-colored shirt and a black nylon jacket, police said.
She had collar-length, curly brown hair, brown eyes, freckles and a light complexion.
Her body was found near the top of an incline across Dubois Road from the Unitarian Universalist Church of Annapolis.
Dubois Road is northwest of U.S. 50, just outside Annapolis along Bestgate Road.