In the summer of 2016, the city of Atlanta was grappling with a surge in violence that would mark its deadliest year in nearly a decade. Amidst this backdrop of escalating crime, a grim discovery was made in a wooded area in the southeastern part of the city. On Thursday, June 16, 2016, a person walking through the area on Vanira Avenue stumbled upon the body of a woman, later identified as 53-year-old Larlethea Sharrieff of Atlanta.
The gender of the victim was immediately apparent, and she was a female.
Atlanta police were quickly dispatched to the scene, where they found Sharrieff on the ground. Investigators immediately suspected foul play in her death. Crime scene technicians worked for hours, meticulously collecting evidence from the secluded spot where her body was found. Authorities remained tight-lipped about the specific cause of her death but confirmed that they were investigating it as a homicide. It was unclear to investigators if she had been killed at that location or if her body had been brought there after the fact. One report later indicated that she had been a victim of gun violence.
The death of Larlethea Sharrieff became one of 51 unsolved homicides in Atlanta for that year, a statistic that highlighted the city's struggle with violent crime. Despite the initial investigation and the collection of evidence, no suspects were publicly identified, and no arrests were made in connection with her murder. The case, like many others from that year, grew cold, leaving a family without answers and a community with the unsettling knowledge that a killer remained at large. As of the most recent available information, there have been no further developments in the investigation into the death of Larlethea Sharrieff, and her case remains an open and unsolved homicide with the Atlanta Police Department.
