Cold cases solved: Florida man charged in deaths of women dating back to 1996 and 2006
Maryland State Police (MSP) Homicide Unit investigators have charged a Florida man in connection with the 2006 murder of a young woman found on Interstate 70 in Frederick County, Maryland.
Garry Artman, 64, of White Springs, Florida, has been charged with first- and second-degree murder and first- and second-degree assault. Artman is being held at the Kent County Correctional Facility in Grand Rapids, Michigan, after being arrested and charged in connection with a 1996 cold case involving the death of a Michigan woman. Officials have nailed Artman for the deaths of both women, Dusty Myriah Shuck found murdered in Maryland and Sharon Hammack, found raped and murdered in Michigan in 1996.
Nearly 26 years after a pregnant Michigan mother of two was brutally raped and murdered, advancements in DNA have led investigators to a Florida-based trucker. ~ Oxygen
On May 4, 2006, the body of another woman, Dusty Myriah Shuck, 24, of Silver City, New Mexico, was discovered near a rest stop in Frederick County, Maryland, by a passing motorist. Shuck was last seen in New Mexico on April 24, 2006 at a local hotel. Days later she was found wearing a tank top, hooded sweatshirt and sweatpants.
She was also found without shoes or any identification and lying on the shoulder of eastbound I-70, east of New Market, Maryland. The only clues to identify her were two dragon tattoos located on her back with the words “Gypsy Rose” written beneath them. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in 2006 ruled her death as a homicide caused by stabbing and blunt force trauma.
The Maryland State Police Homicide Unit immediately launched an investigation. Crime scene technicians from the Maryland State Police Forensic Sciences Division responded and processed the scene for evidence. Limited evidence was left at the scene.
Message board signs, normally used for traffic safety messages, were illuminated and used to seek information, yet very few leads were generated. There were no surveillance cameras in the area and no witnesses to provide police with relevant information.
Given the location of the body and where Shuck was originally from, police believed the person responsible could be a truck driver. The local truck stops were subsequently sought out and processed for potential leads. Although several persons of interest were developed, all were ruled out as being involved.
Missing person databases were checked along with tattoo parlors throughout the region. Countless interviews, sifting through case files and following up on hopeful leads yielded unsuccessful results at locating a suspect in the case. Investigators left no stone unturned.
Two years later, a search of the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) resulted in an unknown DNA match between an 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 solving crimes from unsolved cases. Without a known DNA profile match at the time, the investigation remained open.
On August 17, 2022, an investigator with the Maryland State Police Homicide Unit received a phone call from a detective with the Kent County Sheriff’s Office in Michigan. A suspect, Garry Artman, had been identified in a 1996 cold case involving the death of a Michigan woman.
Artman was arrested in Mississippi by detectives from the Kent County Sheriff’s Office in Michigan. He was later extradited to Michigan. After police obtained a search warrant, his DNA was collected and brought to the Michigan State Police Crime Lab for a comparison.
Artman appeared in [Michigan’s] Kent County’s 63rd District Court Tuesday [August 23] to be arraigned on charges of open murder, felony murder, and 1st-degree criminal sexual conduct. He faces the possibility of life in prison if convicted. ~ Fox17, West Michigan
On August 18, 2022, the Michigan State Police Crime Lab confirmed that Artman’s DNA profile was a match to their unknown 1996 DNA profile and the Maryland State Police 2006 homicide. Investigators from the Kent County Sheriff’s Office provided Maryland State Police investigators with a DNA swab which was then tested by forensic analysts from the Maryland State Police Crime Lab, confirming the match with Artman.
On August 31, 2022, investigators from the Kent County Sheriff’s Office in Michigan executed a search warrant on a storage unit in Florida believed to belong to Artman. Several pieces of women’s underwear were seized for biological evidence to determine whether there are other victims. Forensic analysts from the Maryland State Police Crime Lab are assisting with biological evidence examinations.
Investigators from the Maryland State Police Homicide Unit traveled to Michigan to conduct interviews and gather additional information relevant to the investigation. State police are working with law enforcement partners in Michigan as the investigation continues.
(Source: MSP)
Posted by Richard Webster, Ace News Today / Follow Richard on Facebook and Twitter
