Police may be close to solving missing Phoenix woman’s 1991 case

Sherry Ann Daugherty has been missing since August 29th, 1991 and is presumed dead.

“What drives me to want to solve this case is to help the family understand what happened that day,” Phoenix Police cold case detective J.J. Alberta said. “To finally have an answer that, yes, she was definitely killed and she didn’t just vanish off the face of the earth.”

Daugherty grew up in the Paradise Valley area and was living with her longtime boyfriend at a home near 62nd Street and Shea Boulevard.

The boyfriend said she told him she was going to a nearby Target store but she never came home. After she was reported missing, her car was found in the Target parking lot, but a good distance away from the entrance to the store.

“The vehicle’s seat was pushed farther back than she would have been able to sit in and drive it,” Alberta said, adding that Daugherty was very petite.

What makes it even more suspicious is she apparently didn’t take her purse with her to go shopping. Her purse, wallet and ID were all found at her house.

Daugherty’s family said her boyfriend, a landscaper, had a history of domestic violence.

Alberta said the boyfriend has since been heard bragging that he committed the perfect crime.

“There have been comments made by him over the years to multiple people about disposing of (Daugherty) by putting her through a wood chipper.”

Another theory is that he disposed of her body when he took a load of palm branches to a dump.

So after all this time, why hasn’t he been arrested? Alberta said there’s a lack of physical evidence to move the case forward.

Police could also use information from witnesses, accomplices and even someone who just heard someone talk about it.

Read more about this case.

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