In January 2013, 58-year-old Sharon Kay Leinart, a woman who had formerly served her community as a registered nurse and paramedic, vanished from the streets of Knoxville, Tennessee. Having been homeless for over a decade by choice, Sharon was a familiar face in the downtown area, particularly around the Salvation Army and KARM. She was known to go by the nickname Angela. The last known contact with Sharon was a phone call to her sister in Indiana on January 26, 2013, during which she mentioned that a man had offered her a 'nice warm room' and she was staying with him. After that conversation, her family, who were used to speaking with her almost daily, never heard from her again. Concern grew when her disability checks, her only source of income, remained untouched in her bank account. Her sister officially reported her missing to the Knoxville Police Department on March 26, 2013.
The investigation into Sharon's disappearance remained cold for years, a painful and unanswered question for her loved ones. A significant breakthrough finally came in 2023. Randall Lee Rose, a man already serving a life sentence for the 2021 murder of another woman, began to speak. During an interview with investigators about the 2021 homicide, Rose unexpectedly confessed to killing another woman in Knoxville years prior. His confession provided details that aligned with the disappearance of Sharon Leinart, leading investigators to connect him to her case. He admitted to strangling her at the Sunset Motel in Knoxville and then hiding her body off Chapman Highway. This confession brought a new, albeit grim, direction to the long-stalled investigation.
In December 2024, a Knox County Grand Jury indicted Randall Lee Rose for the first-degree murder of Sharon Leinart. Rose, a man with a lengthy criminal history that included convictions for rape and assault, pleaded guilty to her murder in February 2025. He was sentenced to a second life sentence for this crime. The case of Sharon Leinart's disappearance found a resolution in the justice system, yet a piece of the tragedy remains unresolved. Despite his confession, Sharon's body has never been recovered, leaving her family without a final resting place to visit and a continuing sense of loss. The investigation revealed that a vulnerable member of the community, a woman who had once dedicated her life to helping others, had her life tragically cut short.Last Seen: Jan 23, 2013
