15 giug 1979 anni - Sandra JoAnn Rushing HOMICIDE

Descrizione:

Sandra JoAnn Rushing was born on August 27, 1960 in Denver, CO to parents Joe Baily Rushing Jr. and Shirley Joan Rushing (nee Otey). Sandra's mom's side of the family was from Denver, while her father's side was from Abilene, TX.

Sandra had two older siblings, sister Brenda Kay Tate (nee Rushing) and brother Terry Joe Rushing. Brenda was born in about 1957. Terry was born in late September 1959, making him 11 months older than Sandra; despite this, the two of them were in the same grade in high school. This is likely because Sandra's birth date was on the cusp of the cut off; she was only 17 when she graduated.

The Rushings lived in Denver proper up to at least 1969, though by 1973 they were living in Lakewood, Jefferson County, CO, a suburb of Denver. All three Rushing children went to Lakewood High School. Both Sandra and Terry graduated from high school in the spring of 1978.

In March 1979, when she was 18 years old, Sandra gave birth to a son, Brandon Joe Rushing. I could not find information on the circumstances of his birth/his paternal side. Sandra and Brandon lived with her parents and older brother Terry at 908 S Routt Ct in Lakewood.

Sandra's older sister Brenda had a blue 1970 4-door AMC Rebel. On Friday, June 15, 1979, Sandra, 18, was driving her sister's vehicle eastbound on West Kentucky (likely Drive) in Lakewood, near South Simms St, when "an unknown incident" occurred.

This incident caused Sandra to stop the car, then rapidly back up near the intersection of South Briarwood Drive and West Kentucky Ave. Sandra was then shot through the windshield while the vehicle was still in reverse. After she was shot, her car struck a pole and came to rest.

According to a 2013 article on Kirk Mitchell of The Denver Post's cold cases blog — which, it should be noted, is often riddled with spelling and grammar mistakes, and doesn't cite its sources — Sandra was reportedly being stalked by an ex-boyfriend — possibly the father of her child, though it is unclear — at the time.

There is very little information available about Sandra's murder. While she is in the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI)'s unsolved crimes database, she is not featured on the Jefferson County Cold Cases page; this has been true since at least 2020, which is as far back as I could find on the Wayback Machine.

Anyone with information regarding Sandra's murder is urged to please contact the Lakewood Police Department at 303-987-7210. The agency case number is 79-46059. Any little piece of information counts.

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WRITE-UP COMPLETION DATE: June 5, 2025
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DAY OF WEEK: Friday

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