ARNOLD, Md. — A 1993 cold case in Anne Arundel County remains unsolved nearly three decades after a local bar owner was shot in her driveway.
Joanne Valentine, a 47-year-old mother of two sons, owned Rumblefish in Glen Burnie with her husband. On September 26, 1993, she was shot after getting home from a busy Saturday night working alone.
"Around 4:00, the victim arrived home and was followed by another vehicle," a police spokesman told WMAR at the time.
"She exited her car, walked back to see who was following her. And two shots were fired from within the suspect vehicle. One of those rounds did strike her in the head," he added.
Valentine lived on Broadwater Road in Arnold. As she arrived home in the early morning hours, she reportedly spoke with someone outside, which woke her husband who was home sick that night.
"The neighbors saw and heard what they described as, in different ways, possibly a red car, or a darker car and that it was backing down the driveway," said Michael Garvey, a Anne Arundel County investigator.
After Valentine was shot, the car reportedly sped away from the scene. She was taken to a local hospital, where she died.
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Two men were initially indicted on first-degree murder charges in connection with the case, but a defense attorney established that one of the men was actually in jail the night of the murder.
The charges were dropped, and the case went cold.
In 2011, Valentine's sister, Linda Grunder, expressed the family's ongoing grief in an interview with WMAR-2 News.
"They had a wonderful, wonderful life. They had a wonderful life. And just, taken from them. It's just unbelievable, unbelievable that that could happen to us," Grunder said.
Anne Arundel County Police are still investigating Valentine's case; if you have information about the events of September 26, 1993, you can contact them at 410-222-8050.
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