Cathleen Allison/Nevada Appeal Carson City Sheriff's officials are investigating blood found in a motel room and bloody sheets found in the Dumpster on Wednesday afternoon at the Rand Ave. Motel.
Carson City investigators are trying to locate two people who checked into a motel room Tuesday night and left behind blood-soaked bedding and walls Wednesday.
Police were called to the Rand Ave. Motel at 3:12 p.m. after a maid discovered the scene in a room rented to Cynthia Markham and Steven Martinoni.
According to manager Misty Jordan, the 50-year-old man and 47-year-old woman checked into the motel between 7 and 9 p.m. on Tuesday night and paid $38.50 in cash for a night in room 203.
At about 11:20 a.m. Wednesday, a man called from room 203 and said he would be staying another night and to not send up the maid, Jordan said.
She said she commented at the time to her husband that his remark about the maid seemed odd.
"Usually when people stay another night, they want new towels or sheets," she said.
She described the man's voice as "nervous."
"He was talking fast and stuff," she said.
After a few hours when she hadn't seen him or received payment for a second night, Jordan sent the maid up to check the room, and the large blood stain on the mattress and splatter on the walls were discovered. The room was also empty of any sheets and towels and neither the room key nor personal affects were left behind.
When motel employees looked in the Dumpster they found the room's bedding soaked in blood.
"It looked like somebody had taken a baseball bat to someone's head," said manager Robert Jordan. "Seeing that pillow and stuff - it was pretty gory."
The Jordans live in the space just below the room 203 and said they didn't hear or see anything suspicious last night.
About a week ago, Markham and Martinoni were involved in a domestic dispute at the Carson City Inn, according to police records.
In that case, a caller reported on Nov. 14 both the man and woman were bleeding. Martinoni was detained and released and Markham was taken into civil protective custody for being intoxicated.
Wednesday night as officers scoured the room and collected the now-pink sheets from the Dumpster, Misty Jordan said when the couple checked in she had no indication anything was wrong.
"They seemed to like each other," she said.
Anyone with information on the whereabouts of either Martinoni or Markham is asked to call Carson City's nonemergency dispatch at 887-2007.
• Contact reporter F.T. Norton at ftnorton@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1213.