SPOKANE, Wash. – The memorial to Sharlotte McGill at the site of her murder, where she was brutally and senselessly attacked, grows every day. Right now, candles still burn, surrounded by flowers, cards, and signs.
It's also the site where family and friends gathered last night to remember her, as they sang Amazing Grace, held candles and shared memories to remember the loving woman who's gone too soon.
McGill's only daughter, Billie McKinney, was one of the last to leave.
But in the light of day, a new chapter in the investigation.
In the parking lot of McGill's apartment complex, a forensics team processed a broken down Buick for evidence. It belongs to a fellow resident, and its battery was recently stolen. Police took a car battery from the scene of McGill's murder, and hope the two may be related. Today, they searched the Buick for fingerprints, DNA, and any articles the suspect may have left behind, hoping the car may provide the break in the case needed to catch McGill's killer.
"Whoever's out here walking, just be careful," one neighbor told KHQ today. "I won't go out here past 7:00 at night. I won't even let my son outside any more."
Another resident, Michael Zachman, told me he spoke to Sharlotte out on the street Thursday morning, just minutes before her attack.
"The last place I watched her walk {was} where I showed you right up there," he said, pointing down South Riverton at Magnolia. "I went inside, shut my door, and within a few seconds heard nonstop screaming from everywhere."
Zachman maintains McGill was on the street, not Tuffy's Trail, when she was stabbed. However, police say the evidence shows she had just entered the trail. She made it back to the road to call for help.
As the search for her killer continues, the only comfort is knowing she's no longer in pain.
McGill's daughter, Billie McKinney, has asked a friend to move the entire makeshift memorial to the Okanagan Family Fair held in Tanasket, Washington, this summer. That's because both mother and daughter were regular campers there.
