Sharon Hammack and Dusty Shuck Part 1 of 2

Summary

DNA: ID — Episode Summary

Episode Title: Sharon Hammack and Dusty Schuck, Part 1 of 2
Podcast: DNA: ID
Date: May 12, 2025
Host: AbJack Entertainment

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Overview

This episode explores the cold cases of Sharon Hammack (Michigan, 1996) and Dusty Schuck (Maryland, 2006), two women whose murders remained unsolved for decades before breakthroughs through forensic genetic genealogy linked their killings to a previously unknown serial predator. The host narrates the development of both cases—detailing each woman’s life, the initial investigations, dead ends, and shifts in investigative technology, culminating in the use of investigative genetic genealogy (IGG) and the revelation of likely suspect Gary Dean Artman.

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1. The Discovery of Sharon Hammack (Michigan, 1996)

[02:38] - [06:20] Crime Scene and Victim Discovery

• On the morning of October 3, 1996, truck drivers Richard Anderson and Russ Blake discover a beige bloodstained blanket on the roadside in Caledonia Township, Kent County, Michigan.
• Inside: the naked, hogtied body of a woman identified later that evening via fingerprints as Sharon Hammack, age 29.
• She had been raped, strangled, stabbed, and was about four or five months pregnant. Evidence of sexual assault and physical trauma was clear.
• “Someone had gripped her neck so hard that impressions of the pearls were embedded into her neck.” (Host, 06:15)

[06:20] - [10:24] Victim Background: Sharon Hammack

• Sharon struggled with addiction, leading to sex work to sustain her drug use. Her family, including sisters and mother, describe years of attempts to help her and their heartbreak at her fate.
  • “Sharon wanted everything out of life for her children. I don't know who she got hooked up with on drugs…then she got so far into the crack it took her downhill.” (Sister Terri, cited at 09:28)
  • The family last saw Sharon a few weeks before her death. Both of her young children, previously removed by Child Services, eventually learned of her fate years later through a newspaper.
• Sharon was one of several sex workers murdered in the mid-1990s in the Grand Rapids area.

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2. The Investigation: Early Suspects & The Serial Pattern

[14:31] - [27:21] Crime Scene & Leads

• Investigators explored the scene, collecting various items (cigarette butts, a cigarette box) and canvassing nearby homes, but no witnesses.
• Several men who knew Sharon—johns, acquaintances, friends, pimps, and ex-husband—were grilled extensively but ruled out through alibi or DNA.
• The timeline of Sharon’s last hours was muddied by conflicting witness accounts. Most agreed she was last seen around 5:00 a.m. at Banner and Division in Grand Rapids.

[22:03] Discussion of Serial Murders

• Sharon was the ninth victim in a series of slayings—sex workers along Division Avenue—plaguing the area between 1994 and 1996. Most were strangled; DNA evidence revealed at least three different killers. A multi-agency task force formed but achieved no arrests.

  “Nearly all of the victims were last seen on or near a three mile stretch of Division Avenue south, the center of the city’s red-light district.” (Host, quoting Wood TV, 23:44)

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3. The Case Goes Cold & DNA Developments

[27:21] - [41:40] Taskforce Efforts, Exonerated Suspects, and Stalled Leads

• Suspects included Jamil Lacy (convicted of brutal attacks on sex workers, but DNA did not match) and a violent local pimp Gregory Kelly (also no DNA match).

• Despite high-profile vigils and public campaigns, the “Hamack homicide” (and linked killings) grew cold.

• In the early 2000s, Sharon's evidence was re-tested and a STR DNA profile (a male, not in existing databases) was uploaded to CODIS.

  “We are hopeful that the DNA in the CODIS system will eventually reveal the person responsible for Sharon Hamack's homicide.” (Detective Coxon's report, read by host, 41:23)

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4. The 2006 Maryland “Gypsy Rose” Murder: Dusty Schuck

[45:39] - [1:05:10] The Death of Dusty Schuck and the DNA Link

• On May 4, 2006, Dusty Schuck’s body is found near a Maryland interstate. She had been raped, stabbed, and beaten. She had mental health struggles and was last seen after evading a treatment facility in Arizona, traveling through New Mexico and California.
• Maryland law enforcement suspects a long-haul trucker due to location and witness reports of her traveling across the country and being seen at truck stops.
• Dusty’s DNA evidence, entered into CODIS, generates a hit: it matches the unknown male profile from Sharon Hammack’s 1996 Michigan murder.
  • "In 2008, a search of CODIS resulted in an unknown DNA match between Sharon's unsolved 1996 Michigan State Police case and a 2006 Maryland State Police case." (Host, 45:39)

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5. Genetic Genealogy and The Search for the Killer

[1:05:10] - [1:13:10] IGG (Investigative Genetic Genealogy) Breakthroughs

• In 2021, Michigan assigned Det. John Tienhoff to the Hammack case, seeking IGG assistance from Identifinders International.

• Bioinformatics and genetic genealogy traced the unknown suspect’s DNA to descendants of two family lines, converging on the Artman and Rumps families of Michigan.

• Four brothers are identified, all potential sources of the forensic profile, but one stands out: Gary Dean Artman—with ties to Michigan, a criminal record for sexual assault, and employment as a long-haul trucker.

  “Based on the DNA, any one of these sons could...be the man who left his semen on Sharon Hamack's body and the blanket. But she had good reason to prioritize one of the brothers over the other three. Gary Dean Artman had ties to Michigan, had a history of sexual assault, and was employed as a long haul trucker.” (Host, 1:12:45)

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6. Notable/Emotional Quotes & Moments

• “Me and my mom would drive up and down Division Avenue and Sharon would be right there behind a little motel near 28th Street. We'd see her and we'd come up to her and stop, and she'd run because she didn't want us to see her like that.” (Terri, Sharon’s sister, 09:55)
• “These two new detectives really think I'm the killer and they go as far as to tell girls to stay away from me because I'm a killer and they will be next.” (Gregory Kelly, quoted, 39:34)
• “I have no suspects whatsoever.” (Det. Rick Bechtel, Maryland, on Dusty’s case, 59:52)

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7. Key Timestamps for Major Segments

• [02:38] Discovery of Sharon Hammack’s body
• [06:20] Family background and Sharon’s life
• [14:31] Investigation details, crime scene analysis
• [22:03] Serial pattern and community response
• [27:21] Exoneration of suspects, continued failures of the task force
• [45:39] Discovery and investigation of Dusty Schuck’s murder, cross-country odyssey
• [1:05:10] CODIS connection between Sharon and Dusty’s murders
• [1:09:30–1:13:10] Investigative genealogy solves the identity puzzle, focus shifts to Gary Dean Artman

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8. Tone and Presentation

The host maintains a detail-driven, methodical, yet compassionate tone throughout, giving voice to the social realities faced by the victims and treating both their lives and struggles with respect.

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9. Episode Conclusion

Part 1 concludes with the identification of the likely perpetrator via genetic genealogy—Gary Dean Artman, whose occupation and history match the evolving evidence. The story continues in Part 2 with the aftermath, arrest, and impact of these revelations.

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For listeners: This episode offers an engrossing, in-depth look at how legacy DNA evidence, dogged investigation, and cutting-edge genetic genealogy can finally answer cases once thought unsolvable—while giving overdue humanity to victims largely forgotten by the system.

Transcript

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Sam.

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It was 1996. Richard Anderson and Russ Blake drove a delivery truck for an office supply company and on Thursday, October 3rd, they were out on a route. The two were driving on 76th street between Patterson and Craft Avenues in Caledonia Township, Kent County, Michigan. They were heading to Battle Creek. On the side of the road was something that stuck out like a sore thumb. It was a beige blanket with a large stain of what looked like blood lying on the side of the road, and the blanket was secured with rope, which it turned out to be a cord wrapped around something distinctly body shaped. Richard and Russ could see the shape of the head with a cord around the narrower area where the neck Would be it being 1996, Russ and Richard didn't have cell phones. They walked over to where a utility worker was adjusting a junction box and asked him if he had a phone. He didn't, so they walked to a nearby convenience store and told the employees what was going on. Someone from the store called 911 at 10:48am Then, while they waited for police, Russ and Richard blocked off the area using those little reflective road triangles truckers keep on hand in case of engine trouble or a flat. Deputy Jimmy Rathbun was notified by dispatch that what looked like a body had been found near 76th and Craft. He was nearby, so he arrived at the scene within minutes. He found Russ and Richard and their large yellow truck parked on the shoulder of the road across from the blanket bundle. Employees of the convenience store, described as nosy, were there as well, waiting to see what would happen. The blanket wrapped bundle was lying on the north side of 76th street, approximately 100 yards west of Craft Avenue. It lay in a drainage ditch five feet from the roadway. Deputy Rathman found the bundle all tied up with the cord from the blanket, which was electric. He didn't unwrap it, but could see that what was clearly the head area had a large circular blood stain. Deputy Rathman radioed that indeed he would need backup. Then he told everyone to move back from the scene and took statements from Russ and Richard. Detective Jones arrived within five minutes and the blanket bundle was unwrapped. Inside was the body of a woman. Blood surrounded her head area and had permeated the blanket. The woman was wearing nothing but a bra and a pearl necklace and pearl earrings. Her hands were tied with shoelaces in a manner that was described as hogtied. Deputies blocked traffic to the area, placing patrol cars at 76th and Craft and 76th and Broadmoor to shut down the entire block. Detective Jones, Lieutenant Berg, Sergeant Avery and Captain Christiansen all arrived. Eventually, Detective Janet Erlanson would take the lead on the investigation. The medical examiner and verhe transfer arrived to remove the body after the Scientific Services unit had been called in to measure and photograph the crime scene. By 7pm the woman in the blanket had been identified by prints on file in the APHIS system. Sharon K. Hamack, age 29, was the woman who had been raped, strangled, stabbed, hogtied and dumped on the roadside. Dr. Steven Coley, a forensic pathologist, performed the autopsy on Sharon at Blodgett Memorial Medical Center. Sharon was extensively tied up by electrical cords. Over the blanket was a cord around the knees and feet around the lower torso, around the waist and around the neck. Under the blanket. There was a cord around her ankles and thighs. Two shoelaces bound her left wrist to her right elbow and her right wrist to her left elbow. Her bra and necklace were removed and placed into evidence. The pearl necklace was later identified as her own. And someone had gripped her neck so hard that impressions of the pearls were embedded into her neck. The doctor observed that Sharon had two stab wounds to her left temple, resulting in the blood that had been observed on the blanket. She was alive when these stab wounds were inflicted. She had numerous abrasions from blunt force trauma, petechiae in her eyes and bruises all over her body, likely from a struggle with her assailant. But the cause of death was asphyxia by strangulation and she had died very recently. Just hours before she was found. Sharon was also pregnant in her second trimester. Sharon's brutal death also resulted in the death of her baby boy. A rape kit was collected and sperm was detected on vaginal and anal swabs. Hairs and fibers were collected from Sharon's body and and under her nails. Short black hairs believed to have come from an animal were found on her body. The blanket she was wrapped in, the shoelaces, Sharon's bra and jewelry and the electrical cords were all preserved as evidence and sent for testing. All right, let's talk about who Sharon was. Sharon K. Gross was born in Michigan on December 9, 1966 to parents Jacob Edward Gross and Lois Jean Marble. She grew up in Michigan with several brothers and sisters, including sisters Terry and Tina, who we will hear from later. Sharon married Gary Lee Hamack in Richmond, Virginia in September 1988. At that time, she was already mother to a two year old daughter named Lachey. She and Gary had a baby boy together two years later, according to a Grand Rapids Press interview with Sharon's mother, Lois. After Sharon's marriage, her husband Gary sold vacuum cleaners and she worked blue collar jobs at Valley City Linens and worked in a Rockford factory. Their marriage hit the rocks when alcohol became a problem and Sharon met a man who turned her onto crack cocaine. Lois said soon she was working as a prostitute and her children were taken away. She had to pay for her habit. Sometime in the early 90s, Sharon did turn to sex work. She held on to her kids until Lachey was eight and her brother Eric was four. But then they were removed by Child Services. Lachey later told the Grand Rapids Press that while she had known that her mother was a sex worker, as she actually remembered her mother being out there before she was taken away and adopted. She did not know that her mother had been murdered and believed she had died naturally until she saw a newspaper article as an adult. Despite being adopted, both kids maintained relationships with their maternal grandmother Lois, with whom they had lived for a time after being removed from Sharon's home by Child Services, Sharon had remained in their lives, taking a last picture with the 9 year old and 5 year olds at Fuller park in Grand Rapids just before her murder. After her death, Lois couldn't care for the kids and they were adopted by a loving family. Sharon's sisters explained to detectives that Sharon was the only child in the Gross family who wasn't straight laced, as they put it. They said that toward the end of Sharon's life they had very limited contact with her because when whenever conversation turned toward her lifestyle, which they disapproved of, she would end the conversation and hang up the phone or leave. This from Wood TV Quote Sharon's sister Terry Navitaskis said Sharon wanted everything out of life for her children. I don't know who she got hooked up with on drugs. When she first got into it, she wanted to get clean for her children, but then she got so far into the crack it took her downhill. It was just terrible to see her on the streets. I hated seeing her there. Terri said the family worried about Sharon every day, especially when someone started killing sex workers in Grand Rapids. Quote Me and my mom would drive up and down Division Avenue and Sharon would be right there behind a Little Motel near 28th Street. We'd see her and we'd come up to her and stop and she'd run because she didn't want us to see her like that. Terry said Lois told the Grand Rapids Press about driving down South Division and seeing Sharon plying her trade on the street. Sharon would always run away. She didn't want to face me, lois said. We tried. All of our family members tried and tried to get her on the straight and narrow, but she chose that life. I think she was too far into that cocaine. Sharon's brother told investigators that he wasn't close with his sister because he didn't approve of her lifestyle and he hadn't seen her for about 10 years between 1985 and 1995, other than a few occasions when she came by looking for money. A couple of times in 1996, they had driven down Division and tried to pick her up and put her in the car to get her off the street, but she always ran away. So Sharon lost custody of her kids and could not pull herself out of the throes of her addiction. She was arrested several times for cocaine possession and prostitution, receiving 120 days in jail after a conviction in December 1995. But she continued to earn money through sex work, standing on Division street with the other sex workers, many of whom were or her friends, all looking for Johns. The Grand Rapids police were very aware of who she was and had multiple interactions with her, both as complainant and defendant. When Sharon died, she was living in Gaines Township at 6095 Woodfield Drive Southeast. Her body was found just seven miles from her apartment. Detective Erlandson went to Lois's home to inform her of the tragic news when she heard her daughter had been murdered. Lois said she wasn't surprised. The family had last seen Sharon about three weeks earlier when one of her sisters had picked her up and given her a ride home. Okay guys, last week I talked to you about Masterclass and I hope you all took advantage of DNA IDs discount to buy a subscription for whoever you celebrate Mother's Day with. But Masterclass doesn't have to be for a special occasion. 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Okay, let's go back to the scene where Sharon's body was found. Deputy Rathbun noted in his report that the area was somewhat rural, a quarter of a mile from Country Meadows Mobile Home park and the greens of Broadmoor Country Club. The closest house was 150 yards away on Kraft. Deputy Rathbun and Detective Tom Wodarik walked the perimeter of 76th street between Kraft and Broadmoor on both shoulders, looking in the ditches that ran along the road to see if they could find any evidence. They collected a cigarette box found 26ft west southwest of the body, a cigarette butt found 91ft southwest of the body, and two more butts found 13ft and 26ft from the body, respectively. Nothing of note was found in the field north of the crime scene. Detective Woderrich knocked on the doors of the two neighboring houses, but no one had seen or heard anything. Detectives interviewed the men who had found Sharon, Richard and Russ, and Richard had some more details to report. He said that that day, October 3rd, when he and Russ were out on their delivery route in Caledonia, he had seen a dump truck in the area of 76th street and craft Avenue Southeast in Caledonia Township. A guy was standing on the back of it, richard later testified. While we were waiting for traffic to go through the four way, I noticed the guy toss something out well, that something was Sharon. The Kent County Sheriff's office was responsible for the investigation into Sharon's murder. They interviewed Sharon's family and friends who were not suspects, but sources of information. The detectives asked whether Sharon's ex husband, Gary Hamack, could have been the man who killed her. Sharon's family highly doubted it. Gary had had no contact with their family for five years. The detectives asked about what Sharon liked to wear, her habits, etc. One of Sharon's sisters said that Sharon would never have used an electric blanket. She ran very hot and even in the wintertime used a fan. She very much doubted that the electric blanket she was found wrapped in was her own. The Kent county investigators had searched Sharon's apartment and collected a number of items, including a Bud Light bottle, a red dog bottle, a. A crack pipe, and so on. They noted there was a full container of Hunan chicken sitting in a brown paper delivery bag on the countertop in her kitchen. Her family said Sharon adored Chinese food and it would be very unusual for her not to eat this food prior to going out for the evening. It made them wonder if perhaps the suspect was at Sharon's house when the food arrived. Something unusual prevented Sharon from eating dinner she had paid to have delivered. Police searched Sharon's white 1988 Ford Escort after having it towed to the Kent County Sheriff's office. Nothing out of the ordinary was found. It didn't appear Sharon had used the car on the last night of her life. Sharon's probation officer was interviewed by Detective Orange. Grand Rapids police had arrested Sharon in June 1996 for an incident in which she threatened a white male, unnamed, with a knife and kneed him in the forehead. There were several witnesses to this menacing by Sharon, and she was arrested. The man she threatened, who had jumped into a red older model Oldsmobile four door with primer on the right rear at the Shell station on division was a suspect in her murder for obvious reasons. From what I can gather from the 80% redacted documents I was given by the Kent County Sheriff's office, this man blamed Sharon for a setup in which he was introduced to undercover vice officers and was arrested. I'm going to call this guy Jay because I don't know his real name, but he will come up again later. Jay basically blamed Sharon for entrapment. Police also Learned about a June 1996 confrontation Sharon had with some people in an Alley near 2025 South Division and a black male in a gold Lexus who threatened Sharon and her friend with a gun. He was A pimp who had been trying to get Sharon to work for him. He stopped them in traffic and got out, yelling something about Sharon owing him money and lifting his shirt to show the handgun in his pants. Gold Lexus. Dude was questioned extensively but did not kill Sharon, even though it sounded like he wanted to. Another guy had been named by a friend of Sharon's as someone who had violently beaten her sometime in 1994. This man owned a black cat, so he was looked at to try to connect him to the animal hairs found on Sharon's body. A lot of men were questioned who were clients of Sharon's, friends of Sharon's, acquaintances of Sharon's and so on. She knew a lot of people. And through these interviews, police started to get a handle on the timeline of the last night of Sharon's life. A male friend of Sharon's, I'm calling Percy, was interviewed at the Kent County Sheriff's department on October 4th. Percy had seen her on the afternoon of October 2nd. He was sleeping when she knocked on the door with a friend and asked to use his phone. He didn't let her in because his girlfriend was over and he was concerned that she'd be mad. Sharon left and got into a car with a black male. Officer Rathbun's notes say Percy was visibly shocked when he was told of Sharon's death and gave a consent to search his residence. A taped statement was made and quote, he is not considered an active suspect. End quote. Detective Orange and Detective Miedma interviewed another male witness who came into the Grand Rapids Police Department after hearing on the news that Sharon had been murdered. This guy whom I'm calling Andrew said he'd been a friend of Sharon's for over a year. He said she was a lot of fun to be around. And he often hung out and partied with Sharon and her girlfriends and would give her rides. She typically worked on Division or Commerce apps. He said Andrew was clearly emotionally distraught and broke down in tears several times during the interview. The detectives asked him to help them build a timeline for Sharon for October 2nd and the early morning hours of the 3rd, which was a Thursday. It turned out that Sharon had been interviewed by Grand Rapids police detectives on Wednesday, October 2nd. I don't know for certain what this interview was about, but Sharon had a record and was on probation, so it could have been something routine. After the interview, at 4:30, Andrew picked her up and drove her to South Division Street. He dropped her there and saw her there again between 6 and 7, near Melville street and Division at 7:30, he went to Shortstop Liquors and then he and Sharon went to her apartment and drank. Perhaps this was when she ordered the Chinese food, although Andrew did not mention that at 10:30 they went to a party. At midnight. Now, on October 3rd, they went to a different party. Sharon got drunk and passed out for a bit. Between 1:30 and 3:00am Andrew took Sharon to another house, dropped her off and returned to the party they'd been at, where he stayed until 6:30 in the morning before going to bed. Andrew had an alibi for the morning when Sharon's body was dropped off. He had been arrested and was in the Kent County Jail. Conflicting with Andrew's story was the timeline reported by a female friend of Sharon's who said that she saw Sharon at 11:30pm on the night prior to her death getting into a boxy, dark blue car that had a bit of rust and a dark interior. The driver was a white male, about 38 years old, heavyset, with a beard, wearing a baseball hat. She described Sharon as last seen wearing brown spandex pants, brown shoes, a flowered maternity top and a beaded necklace. Now we know Sharon was indeed wearing a necklace like that when she was found. However, a photo of Sharon taken earlier on the afternoon of October 2nd showed her wearing a black vest and a white shirt. So police were not sure whether this witness was confusing her days. One woman, a sex worker who knew Sharon well, said the last time she saw her was 11pm the night before she was found murdered. She was in a parking lot at Banner and Division, speaking with a male with long hair. And a male who knew Sharon said he saw her getting into a beige car by the abandoned house on Melville. On November 1st. Detective Erlandson and Sergeant Nelson met with a man who claimed to have information on Sharon's case. This male witness remembered talking to Sharon on October 3rd at approximately 5:00am near Division Ave. And Banner Street. Sharon pointed across the street to a blue Taurus occupied by a man. The witness believed Sharon was familiar with this man in the blue Taurus and and had possibly gotten into that Taurus with him. That sighting of Sharon at Division and Banner at 5am on the day her body was found was believed to be legitimate. The witness knew the name of the man in the blue Taurus and detectives followed up with him. Detective Arlinson went to the blue Taurus guy's house on December 13th. On the front porch mat, she noted a bunch of animal hair. Remember that possible animal hair had been found on Sharon. Detective Erlandson collected the hair and Placed it into an evidence envelope and submitted it to the crime lab. She finally made contact with blue taurus guy on December 19th, and he signed a consent form to have his vehicles searched. The blue Taurus and a burgundy GMC pickup inside the CSIS collected various fibers and hairs to compare to those found on Charon. Blue Taurus guy was administered a polygraph exam on December 26, and he also voluntarily gave blood for future testing. After this, police notes say blue Taurus guy was no longer considered an active suspect. Police were running out of suspects they could directly connect to Sharon, and the timeline was still vague. Division and Banner seemed to be the place. Most people agreed Sharon had last been seen, but who she left with and when remained a mystery that would continue for decades. Unlike most of the murders I've covered, Sharon's was not particularly shocking to the police in Michigan. You see, Sharon's was the ninth murder in a series of slayings of women that had been plaguing the area for two and a half years. Between mid-1994 and the end of 1996, the bodies of nine women had been found in Kent, Ottawa and Muskegon counties. Some of the bodies were unidentifiable due to decomposition, according to media reports from the time. All were white women. Most had dark hair, and of the six for whom cause of death had been determined, five had been strangled. The seven who had been identified were sex workers or had drug arrests or both, Wood TV reported. Quote, According to police reports obtained by Target 8, nearly all of the victims were last seen on or near a three mile stretch of Division Avenue south, the center of the city's red light district. Sharon's murder was the last straw. That month, Michigan authorities from several regions joined forces to form an investigative task force to get to the bottom of these slayings. The task force was staffed by 13 members of law enforcement from the Grand Rapids, Wyoming and Walker Police departments and Kent, Muskegon and Ottawa county sheriff's departments. Police spokespersons stressed that there was no certainty whatsoever that a serial killer was operating in the area. But Captain Kevin Belk, head of Grand Rapids police detectives at the time, told the Lansing State Journal, quote, certainly some of these homicides are related, if not all of them, end quote. Clearly, investigators felt there was sufficient cause to join forces to compare the evidence in the homicide cases. 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Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index with AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year, you can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors, llc. SEC Registered Advisor Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosures available at public.com disclosures.

[C]

The task force operated full steam ahead for the next seven months, according to the Muskegon Chronicle, members of the task force spent more than 10,000 hours tracking down nearly 800 tips. They spent hundreds of hours canvassing division street talking to johns, pimps and sex workers. But the murders stopped just as suddenly as they had started, with no additional victims coming to the attention of investigators. In the end, no arrests for these specific nine murders were made, although There were some suspects. As we'll hear. It became apparent through comparison of DNA evidence that there was more than one killer preying on sex workers. DNA of at least three different men had been detected on the bodies of three victims. In December 1996, there was a vigil in the form of a march along Division street in honor of all the slain women, said by participants to each be so much more than her profession. One friend of Sharon's walked with Sharon's family and said, quote, she was a beautiful woman who was trying really hard. Reverend Barry Petrucci of the United Methodist Church had started a reward fund by donating $200 to reward anyone who submitted a tip leading to the conviction of the killer or killers. The fund had grown to more than $5,000 by the time of the vigil, at which all the deceased women's names were read aloud. Sex workers who were friends with Sharon told police that they had all discussed the sex worker slayings and she, like the rest of them, was scared and nervous. But that was not enough to prevent her from working. Sharon may have felt more confident in her ability to protect herself than she should have. As I mentioned earlier, she had been arrested in June of 1996 for menacing a guy with a knife and kneeing him in the forehead. I suspect she felt that she could take care of herself. Unfortunately, she was wrong. Police and Sharon's family alike believed they had finally cracked the case with the December 1996 arrest of Jamil Lacey. Here's what happened. When Sharon was killed, one of her best friends, also a sex worker, recalled an incident that had happened to her in October 1993. I'll call this woman Ginger. After Sharon's murder, Ginger realized that she had possibly narrowly avoided the same fate and she approached the police with her story. This from the Muskegon chronicle quote. In October 1993, six months before the first body turned up, Laci picked up a 35 year old crack addicted prostitute on South Division and drove her to a home around Granville Avenue Southwest, where he lived. He wrapped a frayed jump rope around her throat and choked her until she nearly passed out. He then raped her. End quote. The man who did that to Ginger was a john named Jamil Lacey. Lacy had a record of sex crimes and violent assaults dating back 14 years, with his first rape having been committed at age 17. His name came up from several tips from various sources he's known to investigators. Grand Rapids Police Lt. Carol Price told the Grand Rapids Press Laci had also used an extension cord to choke a 15 year old sex worker nearly to death in 1995. He attacked her after she refused to return his money after performing a paid sex act per their agreement. She survived and later testified that when he choked her, quote, his face turned evil. I thought I was going to die, end quote. Laci's domestic partner also told police that he had strangled her unconscious with his shirt after an argument. She told police Laci had told her he knew something about a dead sex worker that could put him away for a long time. So Laci was arrested in December 1996. Have you noticed since his imprisonment the prostitute murders have stopped? Kent County Assistant Prosecutor David Scheiber told the Muskegon Chronicle it was true. The killings did stop. Police were very, very interested in Laci as the killer they'd been seeking. They knew for a fact that he had used a ligature on two different sex workers and several task force victims had been strangled. There was more. There was a connection between Jamil Lacey and Sharon Hamack. I don't know if he was a client of Sharon's or what, but there was a good chance he had killed her and the others. Police thought this from the Grand Rapids Press. Quote, they identified Laci as a suspect in three of the slayings and said he knew at least three of the other victims, end quote. Lacey himself admitted this to the Grand Rapids Press, although he would not specify which of the victims he knew personally. Laci was convicted of attempted murder and first degree sexual assault for the attacks on ginger and the 15 year old sex worker. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Lois Gross, Sharon's mom, was sure that Jamil Lacy had killed her daughter. She attended all of his court hearings and he sure sounded like a great suspect. But Lois, and no doubt the police, were very disappointed to learn that his DNA did not match the DNA taken from Sharon's sexual assault kit. And Lacy denied ever having killed anyone. Police never ended up charging him with any of the deaths. Another man also made the suspect list in the Grand Rapids sex worker murders after he was arrested Nov. 20 for kidnapping an 18 year old sex worker. This unnamed Comstock park man had picked up the teen on South Division Avenue on Nov. 14 and agreed to pay her a hundred dollars for sex. Once she was in his car, he locked all the doors and refused to let her go. Driving to a gravel pit off Ten Mile Road, she asked if she would ever see her family again and he said, you'll never see them again. He grabbed her, but she somehow managed to escape and run into the woods near Ten Mile Road and managed to flag down a passing car and ask for help. She filed a report and two weeks later the same man pulled up on South Division and tried to pull her into his car. But police were watching this area because of everything that had been going on with the murders and they swarmed in and arrested the man for kidnapping and attempted gross indecency, which he pleaded guilty to. Police investigated this psycho for the string of sex worker murders, but he was not the killer either. Sharon's case went dormant. In July of 2001, a push was made to test evidence in Sharon's case in an effort to get her unknown killer's DNA into CODIS. A July 31, 2002 report from the Michigan State Police DNA unit states that DNA analysis was performed on the vaginal and rectal swabs taken from Sharon. Consistent DNA was obtained from the male sperm fraction that was sufficient for entry into codis. This was a very positive advancement in the investigation and I fully believe that investigators expected to get a hit to the STR DNA profile in the state and or federal databases. But they didn't. Sharon's killer's profile had not been entered in connection with any other crimes. Unfortunately, the investigators neglected to update Sharon's family about any of the work they were doing. The Grand Rapids Press did an interview in 2004 with Sharon's mother, Lois and Sharon's daughter Lachey, who was now grown and had a child of her own. Lois told the reporter that she hadn't heard from anyone on her daughter's case in years. They didn't care, she said. She said she called the task force weekly for a long time and was always told there were no new leads. By now she had lost hope that the case would ever be solved. But behind the scenes, between 2004 and 2006, Sharon's case was extensively investigated by a series of detectives. They re interviewed people who had been known to Sharon, men who had a beef with her and men who had been the subject of tips. Many were asked to provide voluntary DNA samples for comparison against the sample in evidence and almost all complied. One of them was the guy I called Jeff, who had been angry with Sharon, whom he blamed for setting him up with undercover police. His DNA didn't match. Neither did the DNA of the guy who'd been arrested for trying to abduct the 18 year old sex worker on November 20, 1996. His DNA was obtained after detectives obtained a search warrant for a buccal swab. Neither did the DNA of anyone else Tested during this time. Detectives even went to Sharon's old apartment to see if they could collect fibers from the carpeting, but it had been changed. They sent tape lifts from the sheet Sharon had been wrapped in for transport to the FBI for hair and fiber analysis. They sent the cigarette butts collected from the area near Sharon's body for DNA testing as well. The investigators contacted a lot of women who were known for sex work in the 90s, asking if they knew Sharon or any of the other murdered women. Interviews continued throughout 2005. By now, Detective Rick Coxon and his partner Mart Burns were staffed on Sharon's case full time. They tracked down everyone in the case file they could find, asking about electric blankets, who was violent with the sex workers, people Sharon had issues with, the carpet colors in various houses Sharon frequented, and so on. It was an uphill battle as nine years had passed, and many of the witnesses, semi reliable at the time at best, now had only vague memories or recalled rumors. On April 7, 2005, detectives Coxon and Burns went to Sharon's family's home. They updated the grosses that they had reopened Sharon's case and wanted to see if anyone could remember anything helpful. Lois said she was very relieved that police were taking the time to look into Sharon's death once again. She said things had been very difficult for the whole family since Sharon's unsolved murder. She had hoped all this time that Sharon's killer would be caught. Sharon's sisters echoed that, saying Sharon was a wonderful person who had just fallen on hard times. And they had lost touch with her because of her lifestyle. Sharon's brother was interviewed and requested to give a buccal swab, which he did. New DNA testing continued. Preliminary tests showed the presence of seminal fluid on the blanket Sharon was wrapped in. Cuttings from the blanket were submitted to the MSP crime lab for DNA analysis. They also requested testing on the crack pipe and some other items collected from Sharon's apartment. The testing on the blanket cuttings revealed a male DNA profile consistent with vaginal swabs taken from Sharon. At her autopsy in January 2006, Detective Coxon received two reports from the MSP lab. One was the results of testing on the items collected in Sharon's apartment. One of the Bud Ice bottles and the Red Dog bottle had unidentified male DNA on them. And one of the cigarette butts collected from near Sharon's body had an inconsistent DNA profile on it. The DNA types identified from evidentiary samples. Bud Ice bottle, Red Dog bottle, and cigarette butt had been entered into the Casework database of the combined DNA index system. End quote. Around this time, Detective Coxon decided to see if any DNA existed from Sharon's fetus. Sharon had told several men that they were the father of her baby, but no one knew who the real father was. Miraculously, the Kent county medical examiner still had fetal blood vials and evidence. 11 buccal swabs were tested against the fetus DNA, but no match was ever obtained. It remains unknown who the father of Sharon's baby was. In January 2006, Detectives Coxon and Burns again tried to talk with Jamil Lacey, who had been a suspect ever since his arrest in December of 1996. Detectives notes read, quote, he was a subject of interest in this case and and had been contacted in the past by detectives in hopes that he could shed some light onto these cases. During these interviews, he would not speak with detectives. Upon making contact with him, he would not speak with us. He denied any involvement and shortly thereafter requested an attorney. End quote. DNA from Laci had not matched with the vaginal swab sample collected in Sharon's case, and I have to assume his DNA was also tested against the electrical cord and cigarette butt that contained inconsistent male DNA profiles. In late 2005 and well into 2006, the investigators took a hard look at a Gregory Kelly. Kelly had been arrested and convicted of trafficking sex workers between Grand Rapids and Detroit and cities as far away as New York and Washington, D.C. according to media reports in the Grand Rapids Press, Kelly was described by sex workers as the most violent pimp on the street. And police called him a suspect in at least some of the sex worker slayings, which began in 1994 and ended in 1996. Kelly acknowledged that he was a suspect in some of these crimes, writing a letter to the judge saying that, quote, these two new detectives really think I'm the killer and they go as far as to tell girls to stay away from me because I'm a killer and they will be next, end quote. He was referring to detectives Coxon and Burns who believe that Kelly was their man. At his trial, his former girlfriend, Stephanie Tucker had testified that he had beaten her too many times to count and threatened to strangle her and dump her body on the side of a road. More from the Grand Rapids Press. Quote, Kent County Sheriff's detectives Sergeant Mark Burns and Richard Coxon testified this week they interviewed 140 prostitutes in an investigation focused on 44 year old Kelly. Prosecutors charged the Kentwood man with with transporting females for prostitution, but those charges were not the original Focus of the slaying probe, Burns testified neither detective would elaborate outside of court. But a police source confirmed Kelly is under investigation in a renewed effort to solve the slayings, end quote. It was not lost on police that Kelly was on the streets when the string of murders occurred. He had been sentenced to prison in 1999 for cocaine and weapons charges. The murders all happened prior to his prison term. From the grand rapids press. Quote, women who worked for Kelly testified he used to terrorize them with brutal beatings and threats. They would turn over their earnings, and he provided food and shelter and drugs. If they tried to escape, Kelly would track them down and beat them, end quote. A former sex worker who had been under Kelly's thumb, named summer, testified that he kicked her so hard that she miscarried her baby. She continued to be on disability because of seizures she suffered due to head trauma. He would beat me in the head until I was unconscious. He just hit me constantly, she testified. She said he would punch her, hit her with shoes, and once he hit her with an iron. Detective burns testified that, quote, the prostitutes all had only one fear, and that was Mr. Kelly and what he would do to them, end quote. Detectives Coxon and burns were certain enough that Gregory Kelly was their suspect that they contacted Lois and brought her up to speed. They told her they had DNA evidence in her daughter's death. The conversation renewed her hope and faith in the investigators. She told the Grand Rapids press In June of 2006, they said they really, really, really want to get the guy. They want to get this guy off the streets. They didn't name Kelly, but it was very clear they were very, very interested in him. On January 20, detectives Burns and Coxon went to riverside correctional facility in ionia, Michigan to talk to Percy. He was the friend of Sharon's whose door she had knocked on on October 2, asking to use the phone. Percy had been named over the years as someone with violent tendencies who might have killed Sharon. Detective Coxon's notes say, quote, he was the subject of interest in these cases and had a direct connection with Sharon Hamack. He was in prison for criminal sexual conduct in the first degree in which the incident took place on a prostitute. We were hoping he had done some soul searching while in the correctional facility and would assist us, end quote. But Percy didn't have anything new to say. He denied killing Sharon, and the investigators noted that his DNA did not match the DNA left at the crime scene. But that didn't necessarily rule him out in their minds. But the detectives patience and leads had run out. Detective Coxon's report dated May 23, 2006, says, quote, on this date, myself, Detective Coxon, along with Sergeant Mark Burns, have dedicated approximately 15 months of investigation into the Sharon Hamack homicide. We have exhausted each and every pertinent lead in this case. We have obtained DNA samples that were not known of prior to reopening this case and have also eliminated several suspects. We, however, have not been able to determine the individual responsible for the homicide of Sharon Hamack. This case will remain open, however, it will be placed as inactive. We are hopeful that the DNA in the CODIS system will eventually reveal the person responsible for Sharon Hamack's homicide, end quote. Little did they know the investigators were tabling their investigation right when their killer struck again.

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Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On public, you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index. With AI it all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year. You can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite price possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA NSIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors, llc SEC Registered Advisor Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete Disclosures available at public.comdisclosures In 2008.

[C]

A search of the combined DNA index system known as CODIS resulted in an unknown DNA match between Sharon's unsolved 1996 Michigan State Police case and a 2006 Maryland State Police case. This hit on August 18, 2008 demonstrated how the DNA database plays a crucial role in linking crimes to the same offender. One detective wrote, quote, In 2006, Maryland State Police were investigating a homicide of a woman who was raped and stabbed to death. The assailant left DNA in that victim as well. Let's talk about the 2006 case. Around 5:45am on Thursday, May 4, 2006, Maryland Estate Police received a phone call from two motorists traveling on I70 in Frederick County, Maryland. They reported seeing a body lying just off the eastbound shoulder of the highway. Troopers drove to the area to meet the witnesses, pulled over on the shoulder of the highway just east of Bill Moxley Road near Mount Airy, and sure enough, lying on the grass adjacent to the roadway shoulder in plain sight was a dead woman. The woman was fully clothed in a hoodie, tank top and sweatpants, but she was barefoot. It was immediately clear that this woman was the victim of homicide rather than a hit and run. For one thing, she was barefoot. For another thing, i70 is a multi lane highway, not the kind of road pedestrians walk along. For a third, the woman's head was wrapped in a bloody cloth. The cloth hid multiple bloody injuries to the woman's head and throat. She had no identification on her anywhere. The Maryland State Police Homicide Unit immediately launched an investigation. Crime scene technicians from the Maryland State Police Forensic Sciences Division responded to and processed the scene for evidence, although other than the body, nothing was found. The woman's body was placed into a medical examiner's van and transported for examination and autopsy. It was noted that the sweatpants she was wearing were on backwards and she wore no underwear. The woman's death was quite deliberate. Her throat was cut and she had been hit on the head with a blunt object. She had at least six cutting wounds and five stab wounds on her body and and defensive wounds on her fingers. The dead woman's upper body also exhibited signs of severe beating. The office of the Chief medical examiner in 2006 ruled her death as a homicide caused by stabbing and blunt force trauma. Sexual assault swabs collected from her vaginal area tested positive for the presence of sperm. Maryland police suspected their homicide victim had been dumped on the roadside by someone in a vehicle during the night. Her body wasn't obscured, so when daylight broke, she was plainly visible to passersby. The lack of blood or other evidence at the dump site pointed clearly to the woman being killed elsewhere, and because she had no ID on her, she could have come from anywhere. All they had to go on initially was the two tattoos on her back, two dragons and the words Gypsy Rose. However, it didn't take long for police to identify the homicide victim. Her fingerprints were in the system. Her name was Dusty Schuck, age 24. So who was Dusty Schuck? Dusty Mariah Schuck was born on December 29, 1981 in La Mesa, San Diego County, California to mom Lori and a father whose name I don't know. Her mom, Lori later told the Frederick News Post, Dusty was quote, beautiful, happy, mellow and got along with everybody. She was good at school. She was a great artist. Laurie said her daughter had been the typical girl next door who aspired to work in a dental office and enjoyed writing. She was a good mother to her young son who she had at age 20. As a young mother trying to find her way, she began behaving erratically and showing signs of addiction and then mental illness. She was eventually diagnosed with what was then called schizophrenia, now called bipolar disorder. With her disease, Dusty fell through the cracks and became lost. Lori said she became suicidal and started exhibiting the unpredictable and dramatic mood swings characteristic of her condition. Lori told Wood TV that despite her efforts to convince her daughter to maintain her safety and stability by seeking treatment and adhering to her medication, Dusty would bail from treatment centers and hitchhike around various states, even heading to Canada. She would just disappear for a while and come back. It was a struggle. I think that's how she ended up becoming a victim, lori told News Nation. Dusty had been living in Tucson since her mid teens. She had several run ins with law enforcement there and eventually, as reported by the Arizona Daily Star, quote, A citation filed in Tucson city court on February 4 shows she was arrested on suspicion of trespassing, disorderly conduct and weapons misconduct. A warrant for her arrest was issued in connection with that case. A warrant for her arrest was also issued on February 27 in in Marana Municipal Court in connection with failure to pay fines in a criminal traffic case, end quote. As a result of this arrest, pursuant to a Feb. 28 court order, Dusty was remanded to a short term residential treatment facility called Cope Behavioral Services on East Drachman street in Tucson. Dusty was taken to the facility by court personnel, but she managed to avoid the intake process and walked away at 4:30pm A missing persons report filed by the facility said she was wearing a gray shirt and black sweats. Apparently to avoid all the looming criminal charges and the residential facility. Dusty left Arizona. After absconding from Tucson, her mom learned that she'd been picked up in Live Oak, California twice prior to March 17. Police there took her to women's shelters, but she always left. Then she turned up in Silver City, New Mexico where her mom Lori lived. There she stayed in a cheap motel while Lori desperately tried to help her stick with treatment for her disease. On April 24, Lori arrived at the motel to bring Dusty her prescription medications. But she found Dusty gone. The front desk told her her daughter had checked out 15 minutes earlier. She was in the wind. Laurie never saw her daughter alive again. Not until she received a call from the Maryland State Police on May 6 did she learn Dusty's fate. After her daughter vanished, Laurie told the Frederick News Post, quote, I had put a missing person's report in, you know, because I knew eventually she would cross paths with police or God forbid something happened to her. They would know to contact me, end quote. They did contact her and the news was bad. Dusty's 4 year old son would barely remember his mother. How had Dusty gotten from New Mexico to a dirty patch of grass off I 70, 25 miles west of Baltimore and 2,000 miles from home? Maryland State Police Detective Rick Bechtel had a theory. Detective Bechtel knew that Dusty had been found just a few hundred yards from the New Market truck way station and truck stop on eastbound I70. He was able to locate reports of law enforcement contact with Dusty that showed she was on the move. Police had interacted with her at the Ontario International Airport in Southern California, a major cargo port where truckers often picked up loads from for transport. So Dusty was tracked from New Mexico to Southern California. Weeks later she was dumped near a way station on a major highway in Maryland. With no identification and no shoes. It sounded like a long haul trucker might be Dusty's killer. Scott Raleigh, the Frederick County State's attorney at the time, told the Baltimore sun, quote, we May be on a nationwide search for the person who did this. Police investigating Dusty's case checked at the well known, most frequented truck stop and food and gas station cluster between Illinois and Maryland. The Breezewood truck stop in Pennsylvania servicing I 70, I 76 and US 30. This was 95 miles from where Dusty was found on I 70. And there they located two people who believed they had seen Dusty on the night before her body was found. On May 3, a couple reported they had seen Dusty at a petro station in Breezewood. According to a report in the Baltimore sun, the couple recognized Dusty's photo and the dragon tattoo on her back. I assume they saw her wearing a tank top and the dragon tattoo was large enough that it was partially exposed by the shirt. Others at the same truck stop said they had seen a woman matching her description on that same date. What that meant was Dusty had been killed that same night. Police believed she was killed after 9pm and the murder likely took place somewhere other than the dump site. It could have been inside a vehicle, but as one investigator said, it would have been very messy. Within a week of locating Dusty's body, Maryland State Police did something ingenious. They erected one of those large, portable electronic roadside signs. The kind that usually says left lane closed ahead or road work 45 miles an hour. But instead of a traffic notice, it read Homicide here 5, 406 in flashing orange letters. It asked anyone with information to call the state police barracks in Frederick. The sign got people's attention, but no tips were called in about Dusty. Most of them were people calling about missing loved ones. Police believed that Dusty's killer, like his victim, was from elsewhere. No one in Mount Airy or its surroundings knew who Dusty Schuck was or what had happened to her. They decided to focus on truck stops, believing that Dusty had passed through the area, probably in the company of a big rig driver who had the capability of transporting her thousands of miles undetected. Maryland State Police went to truck stops in Frederick and Howard counties and circulated 500 flyers with Dusty's photo as well as photos of her back showing her two tattoos. They also checked at all area tattoo parlors and included photos of the tattoos in bulletins issued to other law enforcement agencies. No one came forward. Dusty's case was especially poignant because her mental health issues made her so vulnerable. Presumably, the police contact with Dusty in California resulted in warrant checks being run on her. I assume her outstanding warrant in Arizona didn't come up because it wasn't outstanding. It had been executed. She had been arrested and the judge ordered her to the mental health treatment facility. I don't know on what date her mother filed a missing persons report and if it was prior to this contact, why the officers who interacted with Dusty were not alerted to her missing person's status. If they had been, it might have saved her life. On the other hand, it's possible police didn't take Dusty's disappearance too seriously. Even if they knew she was officially listed as missing. She was an adult. She checked out of the motel and left voluntarily. And according to her mom, Lori, Dusty had taken off several times before. She had a total of 11 law enforcement contacts on her record, her mom told the Frederick News Post. That's a lot. This from the Frederick News Post Eight years later in 2014 in the years since, Detective Rick Bechtel has checked FBI databases that list long haul truckers who have been arrested or investigated for killing, kidnapping or sexual assault on or near the highways, as well as victims of rapes and homicides and missing persons along trucking routes and major highways. Nothing has panned out so far. There were some that actually got within a few thousand miles, but it would have been impossible to be there and here at the same time, bechtel said. I'm comfortable that the names that have surfaced through that process have been exhausted or eliminated. Bechtel has presented a PowerPoint of the case at seminars and brought the case to the VDOC Society, a Philadelphia based crime solving organization, in hopes that sharing the information with other law enforcement might help. I have no suspects whatsoever, bucktel said. All that from the Frederick News Post. But he did have some physical evidence. On January 21, 2008, the Vaginal and rectal swabs from Dusty's sexual assault kit were submitted to the Maryland State Police lab. A male STR DNA profile was entered into CODIS and that's when it hit to the Sharon Hamack case. In September 2008, Kent County, Michigan Detective Coxon sent some evidence to LabCorp for DNA testing. They specifically requested that the bindings used on Sharon be re examined. Quote I am enclosing some photographs of the crime scene so you can see the intricacies of the knots. It is our belief that the suspect in this case had extensive contact with the bindings. Hopefully some suspect DNA will be obtained from the evidence we are sending you, end quote. And it was inside the knots in the shoelace bindings. Male DNA consistent with the DNA on Sharon's body was detected. And then there is a giant glaring hole in the case materials. I have the Kent County Police files contain no reference whatsoever to any joint investigation conducted with the Maryland State Police working the Dusty Schuck case. We know Maryland State Trooper Rick Bechtel was working Dusty's case in 2014 and beyond, so perhaps Kent county was letting him spearhead the investigation. As we know, he believed Dusty was killed by a trucker and he had no solid suspects. On September 14, 2021, Sharon Hamack's case was assigned to Kent County Sheriff's Detective John Tynhoff. He spearheaded an IGG investigation in the Schuck and Hamack cases. Tienhoff submitted the blanket that Sharon had been found wrapped up in, which still contains some remnants of physical evidence semen on the edge, to the Michigan State Police crime Lab. DNA was extracted from sperm fraction and was submitted to Hudson Alpha for preparation of a SNP profile using whole genome sequencing. Then the Michigan State Police, using federal grant funds they had access to, contracted with Identifinders International on September 8, 2021 to perform the IGG analysis on the Kent county case. Once the SNP profile was ready, the identifinder's representative uploaded it to GEDmatch on January 13, 2022, and to Family Tree DNA on January 18. On January 21, Detective Tienhoff was contacted by Lori Jonasson of Identifinders, who reported that the suspect's DNA showed that he was Caucasian with an admixture of 46% Northern Atlantic, 40% Baltic, and 14% West Mediterranean. Identifinder's genealogist, Linda Doyle, started an igg investigation on July 26, 2022. She found matches from both the suspect's maternal and paternal sides, including matches of 122 centimorgans, 162 centimorgans, and 140 centimorgans. Additional matches ranged from 22 cm to 54 cm. Ancestry of the matches included German, Polish, and Austrian, consistent with the suspect's admixture, and the matches represented every single line of the suspect's family tree, a first for the genealogist. On the suspect's paternal side, most recent common ancestors converged in the marriage of John Artman and Anna Bauer, both born around the turn of the 20th century. On his maternal side, most recent common ancestors intersected with the union of Peter Rumps and Teresa osuntowski, born in 1906 and 1912, respectively. On July 28, 2022, Linda Doyle contacted Detective Tienhoff and informed him she had narrowed down the search for the suspect in his case. The suspect's grandparents were John Artman and Anna Bauer, and his maternal grandparents were Peter Rumps and Teresa Ostentowski. He could only be the biological son of the descendants from both of those marriages who had a child together, Wilfred Artman and Donna Marie Rumps. The couple had four sons. All of them were second cousins once removed to the top two matches, and both fourth cousins and third cousins to the third top match. It all fit. So the genealogists knew that, based on the DNA, any one of these sons could, in theory, be the man who left his semen on Sharon Hamack's body and the blanket. But she had good reason to prioritize one of the brothers over the other three. Gary Dean Artman had ties to Michigan, had a history of sexual assault, and was employed as a long haul trucker. This is the end of part one of the Sharon Hamack and Dusty Shocker cases. Part two is available right now.