SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (WXYZ) — Authorities in the south need metro Detroiters to help solve a cold case with a connection to Michigan.
Investigators in Florida are actively looking for any information that can help bring the killer of 42-year-old Sharon Marie Gill to justice.
Sharon's husband, Pastor Percy Gill, worked at the Word of Faith church in Southfield when his wife was brutally murdered in Florida.
Percy's daughter Krista says it's been decades of hatred, fear and uncertainty that the person who killed her mother would never be found. And Florida investigators are hoping this cold case can finally be solved and the person responsible for this vicious murder be brought to justice.
"I’m a child finding her mom brutally murdered," Krista Gill said.
It was the afternoon of March 21, 1990. Then 18-year-old Krista had returned home from school to find the front door to her home unlocked.
"I opened the door and I saw blood on the floor," Krista remembered. "Instantly thought it was one of our dogs that was hurt, so I called the dogs, turned my head to the left towards my mom and dad's bedroom and called my mom, and that’s when I noticed blood everywhere."
Investigators say Sharon had been stabbed 38 times and was brutally raped. Sharon and her husband were in the process of moving to Florida into the Deep Creek Community.
Percy was in his last week working as associate pastor at the Word of Faith church in Southfield.
"His wife’s murder (was) during the day inside their home, (with) no sign of forced entry," said Det. Mike Gandy with the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office in Florida.
Investigators arrested a neighbor for Sharon's murder but that neighbor was eventually released due to a lack of evidence.
Krista says she never thought police had the right person.
"To think that this person is walking around free, if they’re still alive," she said.
The Charlotte County Sheriff's Office believes someone in Detroit and the surrounding areas has information on this case.
"Try to remember back to that time," said Det. Gandy. "I believe again there are people there that have information that will help us. I believe they are still in that area and I believe that they want to try and help us."
For Krista, it's been a dark and long 29 years since her mother was murdered. She's praying and hoping someone who knows something will come forward with information to bring her mother's killer to justice.
"I want this to come to rest," Krista said. "I want to be able to say this cold case of my mom is finally closed."
If you have any information on this case, call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-Speak-Up, or the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office in Florida at 941-575-5361.
