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30 Years Later: Michelle Martinko Murder Still Unsolved

By Adam Belz. Reporter

By Aaron Hepker

Story Created: Dec 20, 2009 at 1:06 AM CDT

Story Updated: Dec 20, 2009 at 1:11 PM CDT

CEDAR RAPIDS - This weekend, marks the 30th anniversary of an unsolved murder in Cedar Rapids. About 4 a.m. Dec. 20, 1979, police discovered the body of Michelle Martinko in the parking lot at Westdale Mall. The case shook Cedar Rapids, and never has been solved.

The Kennedy High School senior had driven to the newly opened mall the night of Dec. 19, 1979, to shop for a winter coat after a school choir banquet. Her body was found early the next morning with multiple stab wounds to her face and chest. Wounds on her hands showed she had fought her killer, but she was not sexually assaulted or robbed. Detectives found no weapon, fingerprints or anything else to identify the killer, and the investigation stalled.

Martinko's family tells The Gazette they have never recovered from their loss.

Click here to read The Gazette's story on the Michelle Martinko case

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