Sharalyn Murphy was only 23 years old when she disappeared from Sacramento, CA in September of 1994. The last time she was seen she was picked up by her mother near her Watts Ave home in the North Highlands Area of Sacramento to go to an appointment with a doctor at a clinic in downtown Sacramento, in an effort to enter into treatment for drug addiction. Murphy never returned from that appointment.

When she didn’t come home her family searched for Sharalyn, putting up posters, handing out flyers and praying. They also filed a police report.

On October 4, 1994, Sharalyn Murphy’s severed hands were found in the New Melones Lake underneath Parrotts Ferry Bridge in an area of the Lake known as Deadman’s Gulch. One of the hands was found floating inside a plastic bag, while the other was not in a plastic bag and found on shore.

Then on December 13, 1994, several young men who were clearing brush near their family’s cabin found a body whose head and hands had been severed. The body was found on a very steep hill about 3 miles east of Vallecito on Camp 9 Road. Police and cadaver dogs searched the area and did not find any other clues as to the murder of Sharalyn Murphy.

An autopsy concluded that Sharalyn Murphy was murdered by multiple stab wounds and that her head and hands were removed postmortem. An anthropologist also studied her body and determined that she had wounds from a sharp edged weapon and wounds indicating she tried to defend herself.

The hands, that had been found, only yielded one thumbprint that was usable and police in Calaveras County, where New Melones is located, set out to identify the victim. It would take over a year of exhaustive searches through the Department of Justice records, missing person records and DMV records before detectives would finally find a match with the thumbprint of Sharalyn Murphy in the Washington State Patrol Computer System. Her family was notified her body was found in December of 1995.

Police have very little evidence to tell them who murdered Sharalyn Murphy and are asking anyone with information to come forward. The area the body and hands were found in is remote but near campgrounds, hiking trails and cabins. Police believe someone from the area or who knows the area may be involved. Sharalyn also worked as a sex worker in a very dangerous area of Sacramento and her death may be connected to someone she knew or came into contact with there. The area her body was found in was very steep so it may be possible that police are looking for more than one person.

Sharalyn Murphy was born and lived most of her life in Washington State. Growing up she loved animals, singing and painting. She had a special bond with her younger sister who she loved to help take care of. One of her biggest accomplishments came when she won a church singing competition by singing “Father’s Eyes” by Amy Grant. She was a very hard worker at jobs she had and was a student in cosmetology school in Washington. She moved to Sacramento, California to be near her mother in either 1992 or 1993.

Both police and Sharalyn Murphy’s family are still searching for answers in her murder. They and Sharalyn deserve justice.

In 2014 Sharalyn’s sister Crystal told the Calaveras Enterprise: “When I lost my sister, I lost a part of my soul. Losing Sharalyn has been the greatest loss of my life.”

Sharalyn Murphy’s body was returned to her family in 2002 and her ashes scattered in Ocean Shores in Washington State.

If you have any information about the death of Sharalyn Murphy, please call Calaveras County Sheriff's Office (209) 754-6500, orTuolumne County Sheriff's Office at (209) 533-5829, or Calaveras County District Attorney's Office (209) 754-6330.

The information for this cold case comes from the Calaveras County District Attorney’s website, the Union Democrat, the Stockton Record and most especially from a series of two articles called, “A Lonely Road: Part 1 & 2” by Gray George from the Calaveras Enterprise and written in 2014.