Sheryl Mae Markham was 57 years old when she died on Thursday, January 17, 2002, in Long Beach. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, she died after sustaining blunt force trauma at 2541 Termino Avenue. Her death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Long Beach Police Department case.
She was a white woman in her late 50s. Beyond her name, her age and the place where she died, almost nothing about Sheryl Mae Markham has been made public. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found for this story, and no news outlet appears to have reported on the death. She surely had family, friends or neighbors who remember who she was, but none of that has entered the public record. Her name is not rare, and searches turned up only other women who share it, among them women whose obituaries were published in Utah, and others named as relatives in obituaries in Colorado, Virginia and elsewhere.
Because so little has been released, even the basic circumstances remain unknown to the public. The record does not say whether she was beaten in a fight, attacked by a stranger, assaulted indoors or on the street, or struck by a vehicle, all of which can lead to a finding of blunt force trauma. It does not say what time of day she was hurt, whether she died at the scene or later at a hospital, whether anyone saw what happened, or whether investigators ever identified a suspect. The record gives a specific street address on Termino Avenue, which may mean that she was hurt in or near a home or building there, though it does not say whether she lived at that address.
The killing of a woman in her late 50s at a street address raises questions that the public record does not answer. It does not say who found her, whether she knew the person responsible, or whether anything was taken. Any of those details could point toward someone who knows what happened.
Long Beach is the second-largest city in Los Angeles County and one of the largest in California, a port city of more than 450,000 people at the southern edge of the county. Its port is one of the busiest in the country, and the city is known for landmarks such as the Queen Mary, the Aquarium of the Pacific and California State University, Long Beach. Away from the waterfront and downtown, much of the city is made up of residential neighborhoods of single-family homes, small apartment buildings and neighborhood shopping streets.
Hundreds of people are killed in Los Angeles County every year, and a large share of those killings end without an arrest. The death of a 57-year-old woman in Long Beach in January 2002 does not appear to have been reported by any news outlet.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Sheryl Mae Markham could be found in news archives or public records. More than 23 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who lived on or near Termino Avenue in Long Beach in January 2002, or who knew Sheryl, may hold information that could help detectives. Even a small detail, such as a name overheard, a vehicle seen nearby or a conversation remembered, can help detectives move a case forward. Anyone with information can contact the Long Beach Police Department's Homicide Detail at 562-570-7244, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
