They haven’t caught the bad guy yet, but the Howard County Police Department in Maryland just got one step closer to solving a cold case that has haunted residents for decades.

In July of 1971, police were made aware of a woman found unconscious in a field after what appeared to be an assault. She was taken to a hospital, but died from her injuries several months later. That was 54 years ago. 

The case went cold long ago. Recently, thanks to DNA technology and good old-fashioned police work, the victim was identified as Sadie Belle Murray. Records indicate that Murray was born on September 7, 1924, in Pennsylvania and went by Sarah Belle Sharkey at the time of her death. Investigators were also able to identify Murray’s two surviving adult children, Charles Leroy Sharkey, 79, of Cleveland, and Mildred Marie Cantwell (Sharkey), 81, of Springfield, Illinois. They were reunited in July 2025 after being notified that their mother had been identified.

The big break in the case happened in October 2024, when HCPD submitted DNA evidence for analysis by a private company. Using the resulting DNA profile, the investigators built out a family tree. They originally found Charles, who they thought was a distant cousin. When the DNA was compared, they discovered that he was actually the cold case victim’s son. 

“It’s actually great, and it’s something that I thought would have never happened,” Charles said. “I thought I’d never connect with my family. I tried there for a while, even traveling to Pennsylvania, where we were born, and Cleveland, where we were adopted. I got nowhere. There was nothing.”

Mildred was pleased with the new information as well. 

“Learning about my mother was closure for me,” she said. “I always wondered … and I am glad to have that closure. Being reunited with my brother is awesome. He’s the only thing in that family that I remember. The closure is worth everything because I always wondered what happened to her.”

Investigators still don’t know what happened to Sarah Starkey. They believe she was last living in Pennsylvania, but no one knows why she was in Howard County and who she may have been with.