Family pleads for clues on 10th anniversary of Davidson woman’s mysterious murder
The family of a 41-year-old woman killed in her Davidson townhome is renewing its plea for clues on the 10th anniversary of her murder.
Sarah Catherine Long’s death in July 2014 drew national media attention over the mysterious circumstances of the fatal gunshot to the left side of her head.
Long was found dead in her bedroom clutching a .357 Taurus revolver in her left hand that was resting on her chest, The Charlotte Observer reported at the time, citing police search warrants. Long was right-handed, police said. Police believed someone else was in Long’s house on Old Meeting Way the night she died, according to the warrants.
“We know she was murdered,” Long’s brother, John Long of Cumming, Georgia, told the Observer on Saturday. “The question is, who did it.
“We tried to do the right thing and give the police plenty of space and time, but now it seems like we’re back where we started.”
A police sergeant and Dr. Michael Sullivan, Mecklenburg County’s chief medical examiner at the time of the killing, discussed the positioning of the gun “and both believed that it was in an odd location,” according to the warrants.
Sullivan also found no blood on Long’s hand that was believed to have fired the weapon, according to the warrants.
Davidson police have never publicly named a suspect in Long’s death, which was initially ruled a suicide. By October 2014, police were treating the case as a homicide. Then-Police Chief Jeanne Miller said detectives had narrowed their investigation to one person.
Family still grieves loss of beloved sister
On Saturday, Long’s brother and sister-in-law in Cumming, Georgia, told the Observer law enforcement last discussed the case with them in 2019.
That’s why they finally decided to contact the Observer, John and Misty Long said in a phone interview.
Several years after his sister’s death, John Long said, a Davidson police detective mentioned an imminent arrest: “We’re almost there. It’s going to happen.”
Popular growing up, worked for Lowe’s
John Long said his sister “was my best friend.”
They grew up in Burlington, and Sarah Long graduated from Appalachian State University in Boone with a degree in international business, he said.
Sarah Long worked in data management at Lowe’s corporate headquarters — both when the national hardware chain was based in North Wilkesboro and after it moved to Mooresville.
“She was bubbly, athletic, outgoing,” John Long said about his sister, three years his senior. “She was good-looking and pretty popular.”
His sister was killed two days after she returned from a visit to their father’s 60-acre farm in Pleasureville, Kentucky, John Long said.
She loved farming and horticulture and discussed buying and living on their dad’s farm, John Long said.
Their dad, Larry Long, died three years after his daughter’s murder, always fighting for an arrest.
Sarah Long’s $1 million will
Five months after the murder, an Observer investigation revealed Sarah Long left a will instructing that all of her assets — nearly $1 million — go to her then-boyfriend.
But her boyfriend and her estranged husband signed a consent order in December 2014 allowing the estranged husband to receive an undisclosed share of Long’s estate, the Observer reported.
The month after his daughter died, Larry Long filed a motion for a temporary restraining order barring the boyfriend from getting her money, held by a Statesville financial firm, the Observer reported.
A Mecklenburg County judge approved the order, but another judge later ruled against Larry Long, saying he wouldn’t win the case in court.
Another complicating factor: Sarah Long’s mother willed most of her estate to her daughter. Because of the murder, that money would’ve ended up with Sarah Long’s boyfriend.
In his affidavit, John Long said he didn’t believe his sister “would have freely and voluntarily left her assets” to her boyfriend.
Town “extends deepest sympathies”
In a statement to the Observer on Friday, town of Davidson officials said they extend their “deepest sympathies to the family and loved ones affected by this tragic event.
“We are aware that the family is seeking answers, and we understand the impact this case has had on everyone involved,” according to the statement.
The case remains open, officials said, and police are assisting the Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s investigation.
“The Davidson Police Department is committed to supporting the FBI and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation Cold Case Squad as they review the case to identify and pursue any potential new investigative leads,” the town statement continued.
Davidson Police urged anyone with information about Long’s death to contact its criminal Investigations bureau at 704-892-5131, or email an anonymous tip to policeinfo@townofdavidson.org.
John and Misty Long said the town statement — read to them by the Observer — was the first they’d heard of possible FBI and SBI involvement in the case. No one from the agencies has contacted them, they said.
The Longs said they continue to contact the district attorney’s office and other authorities for any updates in Sarah Long’s case, but have heard nothing back.
“Our next best effort is to put it back in the public’s eye,” Misty Long said. “For us, it’s a tough situation. You have no closure, no justice, and you don’t want Sarah to be forgotten about.”
This story was originally published August 3, 2024 at 1:33 PM.