Linda Lester was just 29 years old when she disappeared after leaving work on Tuesday, October 11, 1994.
She'd left her job at the 911 center in Towson around 10:45 that night.
Linda was on her way to pick up her 2-year-old from her estranged husband's home.
"To our knowledge, she never got there," Baltimore County police told reporters at the time.
Linda's sister reported her missing the following day.
"This is totally not like her," the sister told WMAR-2 News. "She calls.. she always shows up."
She and Donald Lester were in the middle of divorce proceedings, living in separate homes.
Linda's car was found just three days after she was reported missing, in the parking lot of a Ramada in Woodlawn.
It didn't hold good news for family members waiting for her safe return.
"There was blood on the driver's side door. There was blood on the trunk and the rear bumper," police said.
The discovery caused more concern for Linda's family, but also gave police something to go on.
"We're worried, I'm awful worried," Linda's father said, adding, "We want her back and we need her."
Three days later, Lester's body was found on an embankment off of I-70 near mile marker 89.
The news devastated her family.
"How could somebody do that, how could anybody harm anybody like that. She didn't do nothing to nobody," her father said.
Police told our reporters at the time that there were no suspects in the case, after having questioned Donald Lester.
HOW YOU CAN HELP:
If you have any information that could help police solve this murder, please call the Baltimore County Police Department at 410-887-3943. You can also reach out to Metro Crime Stoppers at 1-866-7-LOCKUP, text tips to CRIMES (274637), and start the text with the letters MCS. Anyone with information could be eligible for a reward of up to $2,000.
If you have a cold case you want us to highlight, please email us at storyideas@wmar.com.