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By Jack Beresford
Senior Reporter
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The man responsible for the kidnap and murder of a 16-year-old girl more than 40 years ago has finally been identified—but he will not face prosecution.
On November 16, 1983, Sheri Jo Elliott was reported missing after failing to return home from school in Flint, Michigan.
She had left family’s home on Seneca Street early at 6:30 a.m. that morning. The last reported sighting of Elliott was at West Dartmouth and Clio Roads, walking to the stop she took the bus from every day.
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Somewhere along the way, something happened and for the longest time, no one knew what it was.
A Grim Discovery
Her sudden disappearance rocked Flint. Community members and local authorities spent days searching the local area for any trace of where she might be. Then, four days after she first disappeared, a gruesome discovery was made.
On November 20, a muskrat trapper in Saginaw County came across a body in a ditch. Elliott’s lifeless body was discovered along a rural roadway in Blumfield Township.
The trapper told the authorities he checked his lines daily and Elliott’s body had not been there the day before.
An autopsy revealed she had suffered multiple gunshot wounds and investigators determined she had been sexually assaulted. It was also determined that Elliott was likely still alive as late as November 19, three days after her initial disappearance and a day before her body was found.
That information led police to the chilling conclusion that she had likely been kept somewhere against her will for several days.
Despite extensive efforts by the authorities, the case went cold due to limited forensic technology available at the time.
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Cold Case Reopened
Decades passed, but the desire to solve Elliott’s murder and bring her killer to justice never went away.
In 2023, detectives reopened the investigation and reexamined evidence using modern forensic science. Working in partnership with the MSP Forensic Science Division and Othram Labs, investigators utilized Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing to develop a profile of an unidentified suspect. This work led detectives to zero in on a suspect: Roni Collins, 75, of Grand Blanc.
There was to be one further twist in the tale though.
Before investigators could obtain a voluntary DNA sample, Collins died by suicide in January 2026. Despite his death, DNA collected during his autopsy was later analyzed and conclusively matched evidence recovered from Elliott in 1983, identifying him as the individual responsible for the crime.
Although Collins will not face prosecution, his identification does provide long-awaited answers to Elliott’s family and a community that still remembers the young woman taken that November day.
Michigan State Police has paid tribute to the integral role Western Michigan University Cold Case Program students played in solving this case.
“The students assisted in reorganizing and digitizing decades of investigative material, providing critical support to the renewed investigation,” a spokesperson said. “This case underscores the significant impact of advancing forensic technologies—particularly forensic genetic genealogy—in resolving decades-old unsolved crimes.”
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