Help Sought On Brutal Cold Case Murder

Murder victim Sharalyn Murphy—CCSO photo

New Melones Lake, CA – A gruesome discovery on the shores of New Melones Reservoir nearly eleven years ago remains a cold case for Calaveras County Sheriff’s officials.

September marks National Cold Case Month, and detectives hope reviewing this case will bring new information from the public. The investigation began on October 4, 1994, after Tuolumne County Sheriff’s deputies found severed hands in a garbage bag at the lake. Then, on December 13 of that year, a woman’s nude, headless, and handless body was uncovered six miles from the reservoir by Calaveras County Sheriff’s deputies.

The body was identified as 23-year-old Sharalyn Murphy. She was originally from the state of Washington and moved to Sacramento in 1993. Her murder remains a mystery, as the rest of her body has not been recovered.

For more information about the Calaveras County Cold Case Task Force, click here. Anyone with information regarding this homicide is asked to call the Anonymous Tip Line at (209) 754-6030.