Posted on 11/24/2008 10:34:46 AM PST by murdoog
Ira Yarmolenko's murder haunts her family so much that even the sight of children dressed in ghostly or gruesome costumes at Halloween touched a nerve, said her brother Pavel Yarmolenko.
"There were kids knocking on the door and we didn't even have candy to give them. We just locked the door and turned off the lights," he said. "It became a strange holiday for us - all of the scary stuff; people in skeleton costumes walking around."
With Thanksgiving approaching, the Yarmolenko family will gather for a meal, but for the first time in two decades Ira Yarmolenko won't be at the table. The 20-year-old UNC Charlotte student was found murdered on the banks of the Catawba River in Mount Holly on May 5.
Her killer has not been identified, but Mount Holly Police detectives are still working every angle and every lead they can find, Pavel Yarmolenko said.
"When you talk to detectives, you can hear in their voices how much they care about this case," Pavel Yarmolenko said.
Mount Holly Police Chief David Belk said the evidence gathered so far has not pointed to one suspect or one situation, but the case is not cold. Belk said he met with investigators Thursday to review the case and discuss the next steps.
"They have not backed off of it at all," Belk said. "They're rather dogged at it."
Ira Yarmolenko was last seen at Jackson's Java near the UNC Charlotte campus at 10:50 a.m. on May 5. A couple jet skiing on the Catawba found her body just after 1 p.m. Ira's body was lying just outside the open driver-side door of her dark blue Saturn. Her car had crashed into a stump at the river's edge in the woods behind the Stowe Family YMCA and an adjacent housing development. Police say Ira Yarmolenko was killed by asphyxiation.
Anyone that was near the off-campus café, driving along I-85 or near exit 27 in Mount Holly in that time frame might have seen the abduction or the killer, Pavel Yarmolenko said. The smallest piece of information could be useful to police, he said.
Pavel Yarmolenko, who has followed closely the search for his sister's killer, said he plans to be in the Charlotte area next week to meet with Mount Holly police and some of his sister's friends. He is also hoping to speak publicly in Gaston County soon and plans to volunteer in the upcoming search by Texas EquuSearch for two missing Gaston County women - Jamie Fraley and Jennifer Rivkin.
A Web site dedicated to his sister at www.irayarmolenko.com has also launched with pictures, testimonials, Ira's poetry, pictures and an online forum.
"Finding the killer is very important and something we have to do now," he said. "But the tribute to Ira is more important to my family overall."
...this case is still open as is the young man who walked out of a club in downtown Charlotte a year ago never to be seen again.
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