Kimmie Massengale

Do you know who murdered Kimmie Zelrick Massingale in 1987?
In the heat of a North Carolina summer, the life of Kimmie Ann Zelrick Massengale, a 33-year-old Caucasian woman, came to a brutal and mysterious end. For decades, her case has remained a somber entry on the list of unsolved homicides in Gastonia, a city haunted by questions that have long outlived the summer of 1987. While the public record is sparse on the details of Kimmie’s life—her family, her dreams, her personal story—the circumstances of her death paint a grim picture of her final days.

Kimmie was last seen alive on the afternoon of Friday, July 31, 1987. Her last known location was near the corner of West Franklin Boulevard and South Liberty Street, an area known at the time for prostitution. What happened in the hours and days that followed remains unknown. Two days later, on Sunday, August 2, a grim discovery was made. Kimmie’s body was found partially decomposed in a patch of weeds and woods near businesses on Cox Road, just behind the bustling Gaston Mall.

The scene told a story of extreme violence. An autopsy revealed that Kimmie’s throat had been slashed, and she had bled to death. The then-Gaston County Medical Examiner, Don Conrad, also reported that she had been severely beaten in the head with a wooden board approximately four inches thick. Investigators with the Gastonia Police Department believed that Kimmie was killed at the same location where her body was discovered. Due to the condition of her remains, she had to be sent to Chapel Hill for official identification.

In the immediate aftermath, detectives worked to piece together a timeline and identify a suspect. The initial theory, based on where she was last seen, was that one of her customers may have been responsible for the horrific crime. However, the trail quickly grew cold. The case remained open but inactive for years, one of several unsolved killings from that era that weighed on the community and local law enforcement. Gastonia, a former textile hub in the Charlotte metropolitan area, was grappling with the changes of the late 20th century, but a crime of this nature left a lasting scar.

A flicker of hope for a resolution came nearly eight years later. In May 1995, Gastonia detectives reopened Kimmie Massengale’s case file. The renewed interest was sparked by news of an interstate truck driver who had been arrested and was confessing to the murders of multiple women, many of whom were prostitutes, across several states. Investigators re-examined the evidence in Kimmie’s death to see if her murder fit the pattern of the confessed serial killer, but no definitive public link was ever announced, and no charges were filed in connection with her case.

Decades have passed since Kimmie Massengale was killed, and her murder remains an open investigation with the Gastonia Police Department. Her name is listed on the city’s public roll of unsolved homicides, a silent testament to a life violently taken and a quest for justice that has not yet found its end. Without new leads or advancements in forensic technology that can re-examine the evidence collected in 1987, the identity of her killer remains a mystery. The case stands as a stark reminder of the vulnerability and violence that can exist on the margins of society, and the enduring pain of a cold case that awaits a final answer.