On New Year’s Day 1996, 76-year-old widow Frances Worthington was found murdered in her Price Avenue home in South Knoxville. Her son Mike went to check on her when he could not reach her by phone and discovered a scene of violence and disarray. Investigators described items strewn about, flour and sugar scattered as if someone had been searching for hidden valuables, bloodstains in the hallway and signs that she had been bludgeoned. Coins and miniature chocolates were reportedly scattered around her body.

Police arrested 18-year-old Ricky Wayne Womack Jr., who was known locally for burglaries; he admitted being inside the house and taking part in the break-in but his attorneys said police had confused him and pointed to an absence of physical evidence linking him to the killing. In August 1996 a grand jury returned a no true bill and the murder charge was dismissed. No one else has been charged. The family has publicly expressed forgiveness toward the unknown killer.

Does anyone have information about Frances Worthington’s last days or recollections of activity on Price Avenue around New Year’s Day 1996?