CHARLOTTE, NC – Suspected serial killer Larry Gene Bell has been named as the suspect in a Charlotte cold case dating back to the early 1980’s.
A neighbor on Eaglewind Drive reported 26-year-old Sandee Cornett missing on November 19, 1984 after she did not show up for work.
CMPD says police at the time identified Bell as a suspect and investigators from multiple agencies questioned him, but he was not charged.
Bell died by execution in October of 1996 after being convicted of the kidnapping and murder of 17-year-old Sharon Smith in Lexington County, South Carolina and the kidnapping and murder of 9-year-old Debra Helmick in Richland County, South Carolina.
CMPD’s Cold Case Unit used funding from the National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative to review the case and all of the evidence collected since the murder.
Based on the review, detectives determined Bell kidnapped and murdered Sandee Cornett. Her remains have never been found.
Detectives have now cleared her case as death of offender.
