Burned woman may have been on date

WYOMING, Mich. (WOOD) - Police are trying to piece together where Lori Lee was and who she was with the night she was badly beaten, set on fire, and left along the road.

Lee was found in the 1500 block of Godfrey Avenue early Sunday morning . She was able to crawl to a home and get help, but has now been sedated and is unable to help police find her attacker, friends and family members told 24 Hour News 8.

The 38-year-old victim had been living with a former co-worker, Mira Vogel, since she lost her job and got evicted from her home. Vogel says she last spoke with Lee on Friday night.

"She ran across one of her old friends that she hadn't seen in a long time," Vogel said. "She had told me, 'Well, I'm probably gonna go out tonight on a date' or whatever."

After that conversation Vogel didn't hear from Lee, who she said doesn't drive. She said she never inquired about who Lee was going on a date with or what they planned to do.

She tried to call Lee after she didn't come home but she didn't answer her phone or return calls. Vogel learned something serious had happened when she learned about the assault from detectives.

Lee's mother, Susie Porterfield, said her daughter's injuries have made her unrecognizable.

Investigators are working to learn where Lee was and what led up to the incident but Porterfield saidit's not likely the crime will ever make sense.

"Nobody can do something or say something to you that justifies you doing that to them," she said. "What was done to her was totally unnecessary under any conditions."

The prognosis for Lee is unclear, though Porterfield said there was some improvement Monday. Lee responded to touch, she said, and nurses believed she was able to hear what was being said around her.

"I'm really full of hope right now and prayers and love for her that she's just gonna be OK," Porterfield said.

She hopes Lee will be able to write in the coming days to help police gain information about who attacked her. She believes someone in the public knows about the attack and hopes that person comes forward.

"[Lee is] caring, giving, loving, compassionate - a very sweet person," she said. "Somebody's walking around, you know, who did this. They're out walking the streets, carrying on their life right now. I can't imagine being that person."