Woman's body found in the St. Vrain River after going missing In the summer of 1996, a Colorado woman's life was cut tragically short in a case that remains a haunting mystery. Sheryl 'Sherry' Lynn Parker, a 41-year-old white female from Fort Collins, found herself in the midst of a tumultuous divorce. In an effort to create distance from her husband, she checked into the Budget Host Motel in Del Camino on July 17, 1996.
This would be one of the last times she was seen alive.
Nine days later, on July 26, 1996, the grim discovery of her body in the St. Vrain River confirmed the worst fears of those who knew her. An autopsy by the Weld County Coroner would later reveal that Sheryl had died from blunt force trauma, and her death was officially ruled a homicide. She had been an employee in the payroll department for Larimer County, a life of ordinary routine that was violently interrupted. Her car was found abandoned in the parking lot of the motel where she had sought refuge.
From the outset of the investigation, suspicion fell upon her husband, Glenn Edward 'Ed' Parker. He was quickly identified as the primary suspect in his wife's murder. However, the path to justice was immediately fraught with obstacles. Parker retained a lawyer shortly after his wife's body was found and has consistently refused to be interviewed by law enforcement about the circumstances surrounding her death.
In the years that followed, the case grew cold, a painful and unresolved chapter for Sheryl's loved ones. Investigators have indicated that Glenn Parker has since remarried one of Sheryl's close friends and continues to reside in Weld County. Despite the passage of time, law enforcement has not given up, periodically renewing their pleas to the public for any information that might shed new light on the events of that fateful July. The case is considered one of the Weld County Sheriff's Office's priority cold cases, a stark reminder that for some, the quest for answers and accountability never truly ends.
