ELLICOTT CITY, Md. — Howard County Police on Thursday identified a woman they've been trying to name since 1971.
WATCH: Jane Doe from 1971 cold case identified, two of her children reunited
Sadie Belle Murray was born on September 7, 1924 in Pennsylvania, but by the time of her death in 1971, she was known as Sarah Belle Sharkey.
The Cold Case unit identified her through genetic genealogy, having kept a sample of her DNA all these years.
Through that genealogy research, they also found that she had two living children, who weren't aware of each other. They'd been placed in an orphanage at a young age, and had vague memories of having had siblings.
Charles Sharkey, 79, lives in Cleveland, and Mildred Cantwell, 81, lives in Springfield, Illinois. The Howard County Cold Case unit reunited them, and they've been speaking to each other almost every day since.
“This summer," Chief Gregory Der explained at a Thursday news conference, "our detectives connected them for the first time in over 70 years. Charles and Mildred, who live in different states, now talk every day and plan to meet in-person in the coming months.”
Neither of Sarah Sharkey's children could make it to Thursday's press conference due to travel issues, but they are hoping to meet in person soon.
"I thought I'd never connect again with my family," Charles Sharkey said in a written statement. "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."
"Learning about my mother was closure for me," Cantwell said. "I always wondered... and I am glad to have that closure. Being reunited with my brother is awesome."
Police are still actively trying to find who killed Sarah Sharkey.
"We will continue this work until every story is told and every name is known," said Howard County Executive Calvin Ball.
“This really was a case where the genetic genealogy was critical, because for all these years, we had no way to link this Jane Doe to anyone," said Sherry Llewellyn, spokesperson for Howard County Police Department.
Sarah Sharkey had been found unconscious in a field in Woodstock in July 1971 and was taken to a hospital, but despite being semi-conscious, police and medical staff were never able to identify her.
WMAR-2 News' Jack Watson spoke with Cold Case detective Wade Zufall in late 2024, after a new composite image was created in an effort to identify her.
At the time, Zufall said, "Step one is definitely identifying who she is."
Sarah Sharkey spent months in the hospital and died in September at 47 years old from complications from a stroke.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled her death a homicide, believing the stroke was a result of abdominal trauma she received before she'd been found in the field.
53 years later, now armed with a name, police will try to learn more about Sharkey, and who murdered her.
“We know very little about her, and her life," Llewellyn told WMAR-2 News' Jack Watson, "We do believe she was primarily a resident of Pennsylvania, and that does raise the question of why she was here in Howard County, and we’re hoping that we’ll be able to answer that now that we know who she was.”
If you have any information about Sarah Sharkey's death or why she was in Howard County, please call police at 410-313-STOP, or you can email them at HCPDCrimeTips@howardcountymd.gov. There's a reward of up to $30,000 for anyone with information on a Howard County Cold Case.
