Twenty homicides were committed in Montgomery County in 1988, eight more than the year before, but county prosecutors said the total was about ''average" for the county.
"I would say it has not been an exceptional year," said First Assistant District Attorney William R. Carpenter. "The numbers vary from year to year. . . . We're usually in the low 20s."
There were 27 homicides in Montgomery County in 1986, 20 in 1985 and 15 in 1984, according to the district attorney's office.
In 1988, a suspect was arrested or convicted in 15 of the 20 homicides. The remaining five cases are under investigation.
In two of the open cases, police do not know the identity of the victims or where they died.
On Oct. 9, a group of people who were riding horses discovered a human skeleton in a wooded area on the grounds of Green Lane Reservoir in Marlborough Township. The victim had been shot and the body was burned, police said. The county Coroner's Office was unable to determine an exact cause of death from the remains.
Authorities determined that the victim was a woman of mixed race, who was about 20 years old and about 5-foot-3. She had a slight build and was wearing a yellow metal rope chain and a ring with a basket weave design.
Montgomery County Chief Detective Oscar Vance said police had two suspects in the case, but no charges have been filed.
"We know who did it, but we don't know who the victim is," Vance said.
County detectives early this month released a photograph of a sculpted bust based on the victim's skeletal remains.
In the other case, the decomposed body of a woman was found hidden in underbrush off the Route 309 expressway, near McKean Road, in Lower Gwynedd. A motorist found the body on Nov. 1.
Carl Holfheinz, Montgomery County chief deputy coroner, said the body had been there for two or three months. The cause of death was unknown.
In three other cases, the victim was known, but no suspects have been arrested.
On Jan. 18, Oscar Marquez, 28, of Philadelphia, was found dead near the railroad tracks at the Miquon Train Station in Whitemarsh. The Montgomery County Coroner's Office said Marquez died from head injuries inflicted by a blunt instrument.
On Jan. 26, John "Jack" McManus was stabbed to death in his Glenside house. His body was found on his living room couch about 24 hours after he was slain. Cheltenham police said there were signs of a struggle in the room.
