On June 11, 1982, 8-year-old white female Christie Mechelle Elms of Kermit, Texas, was abducted and murdered in a brutal crime that shocked the local community. Christie, along with her 30-year-old mother, Brenda Kay Broadway, and 14-year-old sister, Salina Kay Elms, were taken at knifepoint from a car wash in Kermit by a man later identified as Michael Eugene Sharp. The family had gone out late that night to wash their car, unaware of the horror that awaited them.
The abductor forced the three victims into his truck and drove them approximately 26 miles into the West Texas desert. There, he ordered them to remove their clothes and bound their hands with rope. He then sexually assaulted the mother and older daughter. As the attack escalated, the man began stabbing the mother. During the chaos, 14-year-old Salina managed to free her legs and escape into the desert, running barefoot and naked through rough terrain for several hours before reaching a remote oil rig where she
