(WBIR-Hamblen County) It's been over 10 years since a Morristown woman was killed in her driveway, and now detectives with Hamblen County's Sheriff's Department are asking for your help to solve their only cold case homicide.
Mickey Moore was just two weeks away from her 51st birthday when she was attacked in March of 2003. Today, her niece still clings to family pictures from before the robbery-turned-homicide.
"Mickey was something else. I was always her favorite. She kinda treated me like a daughter and we had a really close relationship," said Kimberly Sipe. "She was always positive. And no matter what was going on in your life, she would be like 'well you know there's always the bright side' or 'there's always somebody that's got it worse than you do. So that's what I remember the best and that's what I miss the most. "
Michelle Moore, who went by Mickey, lived down a long driveway, in a log cabin nestled in the trees, set far back from a road that isn't traveled too often.
"She lived within 300, 400 yards of my house, in the middle of the farm so to speak, and ah, you know that's about as close as you can get and still stay friends," said Willliam Moore, Moore's brother.
Now, the close-knit family uses humor and love to escape from the dark memories of March 4th, 2003, but you can't erase history.
"You feel violated. You feel like there's no closure. We don't have an answer. And I'm very angry. I've been angry for years at whoever did this. Because I wasn't finished with her," said Sipe.
A life cut-short, a robbery-turned-brutal murder, and detectives with the Hamblen County Sheriff's Department say prescription drugs were the motive.
"Morphine suckers and I believe some Oxycontin," said Sergeant David Stapleton.
Stapleton said around 8:30 p.m., Moore picked up her pills from Howard's Pharmacy in Morristown and drove home, where the attackers were waiting.
"Knew what time she was picking her medicine up. Had planned to sit there at her residence and waiting on her to arrive at her house," said Stapleton.
A premeditated attack, but not necessarily premeditated murder.
"Mickey, like my father and stuff, was very strong willed . We're very independent people . And I think they weren't prepared for her to put up the fight she put up. And I think that's when the assault turned into homicide," said Sipe.
"It may not have been intentional, but she died in result of this robbery," said Stapleton.
Stapleton said she died of head injuries from blunt force trama. The killer or killers then took her car and dumped it about five miles away, but left her body on the driveway at her home until a friend found her about 24 hours later.
"We heard a lady screaming and at first we thought it was my sister. And we got in a truck and drove up here and by the time we got here the county cop was here already," said Moore.
Stapleton said this case, Hamblen County's only unsolved murder, hits too close to home.
"It was liike a feeling I've never had before," described Stapleton. "Once I arrived on the scene, I knew the family. I used to go to the church with the family for years.
Stapleton lived not far from the community, too. Now, 10 years later, he's still trying to crack this case.
"A couple of years ago we put up billboards for a reward with any information , still nothing, no leads. The interviews that we've done is basically the same thing they said 10 years ago. But we're hoping for somebody to say something a little different," said Stapleton.
Something that can lead officers to the killer or killers, still out there.
"I feel like wow, I'm actually walking around in Walmart, at wherever, with someone that is capable of murder. And that's what I think about on a regular basis," said Sipe.
Detectives say they are sending new evidence to a crime lab, hoping to finally solve Moore's murder.
"For the closure of the family. I mean...they lost their sister, their aunt, and they want closure. And I would love, from the bottom of my heart, to give it to them," said Stapleton.
"Miss her quite a bit, everyday. You know, ah, you just go on, you know, there's not much you can do," said Moore.
Family of Moore said what they can do is pray for someone to talk, and for justice for their loved one.
"I'd like to be able to face them in court one day and go 'Ya, you're going to get everything you deserve," said Sipe. "You know I hate to have that attitude because God says you're supposed to be forgiving but I would like to have closure in the end.
"If the cops don't get them, and I don't get them, then God will," said Moore.
If you have any information, call the Hamblen County Sheriff's Department at 423-585-2774. All calls are confidential and any tip could help investigators solve the case.
