FRANKLIN COUNTY, Ohio — In 1992, Amy Hooper was found dead, murdered inside her apartment, with a medallion wrapped around her hands.
Investigators say it was such a heinous crime, it had to be personal, but who killed her?
“What haunts me the most I would say is her complete innocence,” said Franklin County Sheriff’s Office Detective Chuck Clark.
“I had a weird feeling. It's kind of a mother's thing. You knew something bad had happened to your family, you just knew it,” said mom, Joy Long.
Amy Hooper was just 20 years old. She had just moved into her Lincoln Village apartment.
“A little too brave for the 5'4", 90-pound woman she was,” said sister, Sandy Green.
She had visited mom, Joy in the morning, then was supposed to be at work at Berman's leather for a meeting. Amy never showed. A coworker called joy.
“She said, ‘I'm really worried about her because this is just not like Amy.’ I knew right away that something horrible happened,” Long said.
Joy and her ex-husband rushed to Amy's apartment. That's when they found out their daughter had been the victim of a gruesome murder.
“She was found with no clothes on, had been bludgeoned, some stab marks in the upper torso area,” said Detective Clark.
Investigator Clark says it was clear the killer placed Amy's body on the ground after she was murdered, then wrapped a medallion around her hands.
“For what reason? We don't know, maybe some possible reason why she was killed. We don't know," Clark said.
Amy's sister, sandy, says they bought the necklace while at a Reggae festival, but doesn't know if there's a significance to the killer.
"Does it have some meaning in the murder? Maybe, because that was the thing that they picked,” Sandy said.
The murder weapon has never been found. Since the murder in 1992, investigators have ruled out many people, but don't know if the killer was a stranger, or someone Amy knew.
“My personal believe, it was someone she knew. There was no sign of forced entry. It was a pretty vicious attack, seemed personal instead of just a random attack. It doesn't appear anything was taken,” Clark said.
Investigators are hoping to use DNA found at the crime scene and use genealogical DNA collected through the ancestry sites and get a lead on who the suspect could be. They say they continue to send evidence to BCI to be tested, hoping to find the key to unlocking the case.
“There was actually something new that was found. I can't really go into it at this point. It was something new that could help,” Clark said.
Detective Clark has been working to solve Amy's murder for 10 years and says he will keep working until he can give Amy's family the answers they deserve.
“To be able to bring them to justice would make me fulfilled in my job as a detective to know that I had a part in it,” Clark said.