HALIFAX COUNTY, Va. – This month marks six years since a Halifax County woman, Emma Compton Layne, was murdered. To this day, no arrests have been made.
10 News spoke with Emma’s sister, Shawna Krohn, who says no matter how much time passes, she’ll never give up fighting for justice.
“I feel broken,” Krohn said. “A lot of people say as time passes, it gets easier. But for me, it’s gotten harder.”
Layne was last seen leaving the Cody Convenience Store in Halifax County the night of June 17, 2017. When her family didn’t hear from her, they knew something was wrong and called police.
“When I called Momma Monday morning, that’s when we realized Emma was gone,” Krohn said.
Five months later, hunters found her remains in the woods less than a mile from the property Layne and her husband owned.
Investigators say she was violently murdered.
“I’m never gonna have closure,” Krohn said, in tears remembering her baby sister. “Her smile, her laughter, her jokes. She loved jokes. I miss everything.”
Krohn says investigators are still working the case.
“They still say it’s top priority and that it’s moving forward,” Krohn said.
Criminologist Dr. Tod Burke says older cases can be more difficult to investigate.
“The longer the case goes on, the more difficult the case is to solve. But it’s not impossible,” Burke said.
He says fresh eyes and new technology can help crack a case.
“There’s always clues. There’s always investigative tools. And in particular, one of the advantages to an older case is sometimes new investigative and forensic techniques come out that were not available at the time of the incident,” Burke said.
Krohn says she’s not giving up and she has a message for her sister’s killer.
“We’re going to get justice for Emma. So just hiding, being cowards, it’s not going to make a difference because I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to fight for Emma every day,” Krohn said.
10 News spoke with the lead investigator, but he said he couldn’t comment on the case.