HARFORD COUNTY, Md. — A family looking to swim in Winters Run in Edgewood on July 6, 1988, made a gruesome discovery — the body of 25-year-old Patricia Burns floating in the water.
Burns, a mother from Dundalk who was about a month pregnant with her second child, was found in the water stabbed to death.
"The mom had actually walked over to the edge, and looked in the water, and she was pretty close to the embankment there," said Det. Sgt. Chris Maddox of the Harford County Sheriff's Office, in an interview with WMAR-2 News.
Burns had only been at the location for about 45 minutes before she was discovered, Maddox told WMAR.
"Everybody knew her because she had a pretty distinct SUV at the time. She'd drive through the neighborhood, people would see her coming and wave to her. Very friendly person, very outgoing," Maddox said.
Burns' family was puzzled by her presence in Harford County, as she had no known connections to the area, Maddox described. However, according to Maddox, Burns came to the location voluntarily.
Detectives at the time ruled out several people, and the case went cold.
"I feel like [investigators] did what they could at the time. And it is actually kind of amazing that some of the evidence they did collect, the clothing, processing her vehicle, with the forethought that maybe someday down the road the technology would be there to test those items," Maddox said.
Last August, the Harford County Sheriff's Office sent evidence to be analyzed at a private lab, hoping that advances in DNA technology might finally provide answers.
"It's more sensitive technology now with DNA, and we're hoping we may get lucky," Maddox said.
While it's difficult to predict when an arrest might be made, Maddox remains committed to solving the case.
"I'd like to think that something would come back on the DNA and maybe next year this time, we can have another talk and have a suspect in mind to charge. It's hard to say for this particular case, but it's not going to stop us from trying and giving Ms. Burns' daughter closure, the rest of her family closure," Maddox said.
Anyone with information about Patricia Burns' case, even seemingly small details from July 1988, is encouraged to call the Harford County Sheriff's Office at 410-838-6600.
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