There isn't a day that goes by that Lauren Roa doesn't think about her sister, Katherine Brown.
"Kate probably had the biggest heart of anyone I knew," said Roa. "She was the best aunt to her three nephews and her niece...she would bring them little treats in her purse. So they called her TT, and anytime she came over, they knew that TT brought them something special."
But that all ended on June 4th, 2019. Katherine went to the Rocky River Reservation that day and never came home. She, along with Carnell Sledge, were found dead on a park bench by kayakers who stumbled upon them.
News 5 reported on the initial findings of the victims in the Rocky River Reservation.
Bodies of man and woman found at Rocky River Reservation
RELATED: Bodies of man and woman found at Rocky River Reservation
"There's a lot of bizarre things surrounding it," said Roa. "The fact that nobody saw anything, nobody heard anything, that somebody was able to come into a very populated Park and shoot not just one person, but murder two people. It's unbelievable!"
On Oct. 2nd, the Netflix series "Unsolved Mysteries" will explore the murders that day. Volume five, episode one, is titled "Park Bench Murder."
Roa had not seen the episode before it was available for streaming but hopes it will jog somebody's memory and can give the Brown and Sledge families closure.
"We as a family, have been trying to keep their story alive and trying to keep updated about the case out there, but it's challenging and it's very taxing emotionally on our families," said Roa. "We're hoping that Unsolved Mysteries can shed some light on some of the details surrounding their case, not only that but give people a sense of who Kate and Carnell were and to learn more about their families and how they grew up."
“My hope is to come in on Thursday morning, and the detective that's leading the bureau goes, you're not going to believe this, but somebody called with a tip that we think is 100% spot on,” said Chief Kelly Stillman of the Cleveland Metroparks Police.
Chief Stillman came two years after the Rocky Reservation Murders but remembers being briefed on the case.
"And what first stuck out to me, and still to this day, is that nobody saw anything, nobody reported anything that could get us in the right direction where we wanted to go," said Stillman, adding he wants closure as well.
News 5 continued to follow up with the case as time went on.
5 years later: Still no arrests in Rocky River double homicide
RELATED: 5 years later: Still no arrests in Rocky River double homicide
Stillman says they got 19.1 million visitors to the park last year and believes the person who has the answers may live in another state or another country. They may not even know it.
"So that's why we're real hopeful. You know, we still don't give up. We're using everything in our toolbox to try and gain some more leads, so to speak. And we're very happy to be partnering with unsolved mysteries in this," Stillman said.
We Follow Through Want us to continue to follow through on a story? Let us know. First Name Last Name Email What story do you want us to follow through on? What questions do you have? Please include the headline and/or URL of the story you want us to follow through on. Provide any other information that may help us to follow through on the story Captcha
Local News
Comments / 0