Green Country Family Looks For Answers In 27-Year-Old Cold Case

It's been almost 27 years since Kristie Martin was found dead in her car and her family still doesn't know who did it or why.

"You never forget and it's time for this to come to an end,” said Diana Williams, the victim's aunt. "You try to keep your mind busy but it's still right there. It don't leave."

Diana Williams said her niece had just turned 18 and had a precious 18-month-old baby, when she was shot in Sapulpa.

"I see Kristie all in her. Her voice. Everything. Her kind heart. The love of her children cause Kristie would've been a grandmother now,” said Diana. "This [Tori] is what Kristie loved the most in the world right here. This is my trinket that I brought with me. What she loved and always had with her. Tori, her daughter."

She's been gone longer than she was alive, but Kristie's aunt said the family is holding out hope and believes the cold case can still be solved.

Nothing about the night of October 8, 1996, makes any sense to Kristie Martin's Aunt Diana.

"So many things that are unclear to our family that have not been investigated. No autopsy. No coroner called. She had marks on the back of her neck. There are so many things that we have questions to, and we just want it solved. We just want the truth. […] Somebody made plenty of mistakes and we do have a lot of evidence for that. It was like it landed on deaf ears. […] There’s been a lot of fear," said Diana.

Documents show Kristie Martin's body was found in her car on Dip Creek Road in Sapulpa and her death was initially ruled a suicide by former investigators with the Creek County Sheriff's Office.

Kristie's mother sent pictures showing large marks on Kristie's neck to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

In a letter addressed to Kristie's mother in 1998, the ME’s office said the "absence of any redness indicates the abrasions were made after death, possibly during the handling or embalming of Kristie's body," and the medical examiner's original opinion to classify the death as a suicide would stand.

But in 2001, investigators reviewed and reopened her case, which is now "being treated as a suspicious death and with a high possibility of foul play involved."

Documents say no autopsy was performed and call Kristie's death very unusual.

Diana said Kristie had a twin brother and was kind and loving.

"I have many good memories of her growing up. She was such a sweet little girl. […] She was just a joy and she laughed constantly. It was so much fun,” said Diana. “The memories, you can’t take my memories.”

She adored animals and had many hobbies like seadooing, sunbathing, camping, fishing, watching The Simpsons, and roller skating.

"Kristie had received a letter the day after she was found that she had gotten accepted for the Miss Oklahoma Pageant,” said Diana. "She was going places. She was a very happy, young lady. Young mother."

Diana said the truth is out there and is begging anyone with information to come forward.

"Please do a thorough investigation. We just want the truth. That's all we want is the truth. We want it put behind us and I want to forgive,” said Diana. "Closure, the truth, justice, peace, and forgiveness. That's all we want. You've got to forgive but you've got to know who to forgive."