FOX Carolina 21Deputies review old cold cases for the new year

Deputies review old cold cases for the new year

When Cherry Posey sees a picture of her father, it brings back good memories.

"My dad was my Superman and I'm still, to this day, still a daddy's girl," she said.

Nearly 10 years ago, someone shot and killed her father, the Reverend Perry Posey. He was the pastor of Shady Grove Baptist Church in Gaffney. Deputies with the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office said they found him shot to death in his car just off I-85 northbound near Green River Road back in February 2002. Investigators believe Posey was shot in the Lindley's Grocery store parking lot, then drove a few feet to try and get away from his killer before he died.

Later, deputies found the shotgun used to kill Posey ditched in a grassy area off I-85 southbound.

"Ten years of not knowing what happened to my dad and why anybody would want to do this, it's been very difficult," Cherry Posey said Wednesday night.

And the not knowing is why Cherokee County Sheriff Steve Mueller is trying to get answers.

"It's gotta be heart wrenching for those families," he said.

When he took office last year, he and his team of investigators decided to try and heat up 10 cold cases. To start the new year, one of them is the Posey case.

"We're not going to take these cases and put them on a shelf and just let them collect dust. We're going to actually pursue information, tips and leads," he said.

And those leads end up on Capt. Mark Vanderburg's desk.

"Every lead we get in, comes across my desk, we're trying to run them down,"  Vanderburg said.

He heads the cold case division at the sheriff's office.

Each quarter, investigators focus on three to four cases. They said they re-interview potential witnesses and go back to those neighborhoods where the crime took place.

"Hopefully, we're going to jog some people's memories and get the case rolling again," he said.

They said someone knows something about the cases. And Cherry Posey hopes someone will be a hero, just as she sees her dad, and come forward.

"I think about him all the time and I miss him," she said.

If you have any information, call Crimestoppers at 1-888-CRIME-SC.

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