ROCKVILLE, Md. – After months with no answers, family members are making an emotional plea to solve the murder of a 19-year-old girl.
Police initially said Tannessa Taylor was last seen on December 31, 2009 after being arrested on theft charges. However, investigators say new information leads them to believe she was alive as late as the first week of January, 2010. Police say she was trying to change her life and earn a GED attending night classes at Ballou Senior High School in the District. Her family says Taylor dreamed of becoming a veterinarian.
Two months later, a hunter found her body in a shallow grave in the Patuxent River State Park. Because of the condition of the body, police still don’t know how long the remains had been in the shallow grave or where Taylor was killed.
“The killer’s still out there, so we’re interested in bringing some closure to this,” says Taylor’s brother, Keith Carmichael. “Whoever did it, she was a 19-year-old little girl.”
Montgomery County detectives say there were rumors circulating that Taylor spoke with police about suspects involved in the March 2009 robbery of a 7-Eleven in Laytonsville.
The rumor was never proven, but police say it may have caused others to want to hurt Taylor.
Detectives also are looking for two people — Shannon Watkins, 34, and Casey Boone, 20 — who they think may have information to help their investigation.
Police say the two knew Taylor and both have spent time in Prince George’s County and Alexandria.
Hoping to add some incentive to the search, the Victims’ Rights Foundation is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for Taylor’s death.
Anyone with information about the case can call police at (240) 773-5070 or anonymously at (240) 773-TIPS.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 12th, 2011 at 9:17 am and is filed under Maryland, Unsolved Crimes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.