Sherry Hart

Sherry Hart

Real Name: Sherry Lyall Hart
Nicknames: No known nicknames
Location: Ashe County, North Carolina
Date: January 15, 1984

Case

Details: On the evening of January 15, 1984, Sherry, who had a six year old daughter named April, disappeared after she planned to meet a date at a Ashe County, North Carolina restaurant who never showed up. Authorities found no evidence of foul play in the case even though friends had seen her the night she vanished. Then, eleven months later, authorities were at the bottom of a 2000 foot cliff named the "jumping off place" when they discovered Sherry's body. Investigators re-opened the case and they found a witness who reported that Sherry was with two high school friends: Richard Bare and Jeffrey Burgess.
Richard and Jeffrey were brought in for questioning, but were not arrested until later when police determined that she went joyriding with the two men, and that at some point they pulled off the edge of the highway about a quarter of a mile from the "jumping off place" when Sherry asked to make a rest stop. Bare then followed Sherry into the woods and made unwanted sexual advances on her. As she ran back to the car, Sherry asked Burgess to protect her from Bare. Then, Bare charged out of the woods and struck Sherry in the head with a handgun and the two men then drove to the "jumping off place". Bare then allegedly pulled Sherry from the car and pushed her off of the cliff to her death.
Burgess and Bare were charged with Sherry's murder on March 29, 1985. However four months later, on July 19, 1985, Bare escaped from a prison where he was being held, becoming a fugitive from justice. Burgess's trial will not begin until Bare is arrested. In 1993, Bare was almost arrested in Delaware, but just hours before FBI agents were able to get to a relative of Bare's house where he had been hiding, he escaped and has not been seen since. Bare is 5'6", 145 pounds, has brown hair, green eyes, a tattoo of a panther on his right forearm, may have a moustache or beard, and would now be 47 years old. A $10,000 reward is being offered in this case by Sherry's family and the police.
Suspects: Richard Bare
Extra Notes: This segment originally ran on the March 8, 1996. episode.
Results: Unsolved
Links:

• Sherry Hart's case at Unsolved.com
• Rumors that her mother’s killer remains free 30 years after escaping from jail haunts woman

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