The Sharron Prior Case: Solved After 48 Years by DNA

The tragic case of Sharron Prior, a 16-year-old girl from Montreal, Quebec, remained unsolved for nearly five decades—until modern science finally uncovered the truth. In March 1975, Sharron left her home to meet friends for pizza but never arrived. Days later, her body was discovered in a rural area, showing signs of sexual assault, restraint, and a brutal struggle.

Despite an extensive investigation, the case went cold due to limited forensic technology at the time. For years, her family was left without answers.

Everything changed in 2023.

Using advanced DNA analysis and PCR technology, investigators were able to re-examine preserved evidence from the crime scene. The results identified the killer as Franklin Delano Floyd Romine, a man with a violent past who had previously committed sexual assault and fled authorities.

Romine had died decades earlier, but investigators exhumed his remains to confirm the match, officially solving the case after 48 years.

This case highlights the power of modern forensics and how cold cases can still be solved, even decades later. For Sharron Prior’s family, it finally brought long-awaited closure.

Transcript

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A Young Girl's Tragedy, a cold case reopened, and a long dead criminal. Today's video is about the gruesome rape and murder of Sharon Pryor, a bright and friendly 16-year-old from Montreal's Point St. Charles neighborhood. Her abduction and murder case was initially declared cold, but 48 years later, it was unearthed and solved through the miracle of science. The date was March 29, 1975. It is a chilly Saturday night, and Sharon and her friends decide to meet up for pizza. What starts as a harmless girl's night out would turn into one of Quebec's most high-profile serial killer cases. Sharon leaves her house for the pizza parlor where her friends await her. An outing that isn't new to her or others in her circles. However, despite being in a safe city and on a familiar route, Sharon would never make it to her friends. Instead, a heartbreaking fate awaited the young girl. Three days later, Quebec police discovered a dead body ditched alongside the road in the snow in Longwheel, rural Quebec. Investigations begin, but more questions are asked than answered. How did her night go from a casual night out with friends to a deadly and brutal fate? And what kept this case from being solved all these years? Keep watching to find out the mysterious murder that chilled Montreal for decades and the miraculous discovery that would heat up this cold case and bring closure to Sharon's family. On April 1st, the police found Sharon's body dumped in the snow about 15 miles from where they suspected she got kidnapped. It had clear signs of sexual assault and struggle. The haphazard crime scene spoke volumes of the torture she had endured that night. The assaulter had removed her pants and restrained her hands with tape. Her underwear was found on a nearby tree. In her lifeless hand, Sharon held a tree branch. It was a clear sign of resistance. In her futile attempts to fight off the abductor, Sharon had used whatever she could get her hands on, but eventually she failed and lost her life. Given the nature of the case, an autopsy of the body was conducted. The medical examiners concluded Sharon had been suffocated and beaten before she died. The next piece in the story was traces of blood samples found at the murder site. However, it was still 1975. Without larger amounts of blood, the forensic capabilities weren't powerful enough to prove useful. Hundreds of investigations would unfold from potential enemies of the victim to local townies, but none would bring the Quebec police any closer to the murderer, and the case would turn cold for years. So, who was the vicious culprit? Was it a stalker who had been on Sharon's tail for a while or someone who had taken advantage of the poor girl? Stick around as we pick apart the horrors of that chilly March night and find out. May 2023, hundreds of miles away, and 48 years later, Mark Shorsiah, prosecuting attorney of Putnam County, West Virginia, gets a call from Canadian cold case detectives. What they would have to say would leave Sorsaya shocked. It was time to reopen Sharon Pryor's case and bring her justice thanks to science and all new medical technology. In the early 1980s, there came a Nobel Prize-winning breakthrough in the field of chemistry, the polymerase chain reaction, or PCR for short. It was a technique discovered by Dr. Carrie Mullis to amplify even trace samples of DNA into billion fold copies in a matter of hours. This would have far-reaching consequences in many realms of science, from the dusty works of carbon-dating fossils to following the bloody trails of forensics. One high-profile case you may be familiar with is the O.J. Simpson case. Dr. Kerry Mullis himself was called to testify on the forensic studies trying to connect OJ to the murder. Developments through the next few decades will see more and more applications of PCR in aiding the police in criminal investigations. One of these would be Sharon Prior's investigation. Fast forward to 2023, and Canadian detectives dig up well-preserved blood samples from Sharon's murder site. By developing sophisticated PCR techniques, they are able to find DNA matches for brothers from West Virginia. The detectives tell Sorsya that they know with 100% certainty that the brother who committed the rape and brutal murder of Sharon Pryor is in fact Franklin Maywood Roaline. The Canadian detectives must have had some reason to run PCR of the blood samples against Franklin Rowine. So, how were they able to connect this West Virginia family to a murder hundreds of miles away? Stay tuned to find out. Franklin Rowine was born in 1946 in Huntington, West Virginia. He would be 30 around the time he would have killed Sharon. It turns out Sharon was not Romaine's first victim. In fact, their path had collided while Romain was on the run for a previous crime, the rape of his love interest, a waitress from Packersburg. Romaine had escaped the West Virginia police and made a run for it in Montreal. On February 6, 1976, Romaine would be captured by Quebec police in Montreal. Eventually, his case was extradited to the U.S. and Romaine was sent back to West Virginia. The second crucial piece, in addition to the blood samples, was the rape of the waitress. The case would help Canadian scientists 50 years later in linking Romain from West Virginia. That case would help Canadian scientists 50 years later in linking Romaine from West Virginia to Sharon of Canada. February 1974, Bob Nuell, a young patrolman in Packersburg, West Virginia, gets a call from the city south side reporting an incident of sexual assault. He goes to the call site and finds a break-in situation. There's broken glass all over the floor, and a 23-year-old woman is present in extreme distress. She tells Newell that Romain had broken into her apartment in the middle of the night while she slept and threw a $20 bill at her before leaving. What was worse was that her four-year-old was crying in the room next door the whole time. On further investigation, she informed the authorities that she knew Romain from her job as a waitress when he would frequently come in for coffee. Over time, Romain developed a liking for the waitress in one of his coffee visits. And on one of his coffee visits, he even tried asking her out. However, what started out as harmless flirting for Romain soon became a maddening obsession. In the jury trials that would follow, the victim recounts he said he had wanted me from the first time he ever saw me and that he was going to have me even if he had to kill me. Despite the difficulties for women fighting rape cases in the 70s, the jury sided with the waitress and found Romain guilty. The first conviction on charges of rape in the county in nearly a decade, but it wouldn't be the last one for Romain. The jury also suggested a mercy deal for Romain. However, by the time the trial was executed, it was already 1976. Sharon had already become Romaine's next prey. Officer Noell's take on the matter was that Romain was simply a sociopath. He says, knowing what we know now about Romain, he was probably obviously a sociopath all along. It wasn't anything he learned. You don't learn that. He's a typical example of that. In the months Romain was on the run, he had made several rounds back and forth between Montreal and West Virginia, and in one of such rounds, he had gotten his hands on young Sharon. The lead investigator from Longieu, police detective Sergeant Eric Rasikoton, also described Romain's mindset and movements as a game of catch me if you can. Despite his back and forth between the two countries, Romaine would be found mysteriously dead at the age of 36 in Verdun, Montreal. His body would make one final trip back to West Virginia, where it would be buried, but not for good. They say justice is best served cold, but in the case of the Pryor family, they didn't have a choice in the matter. They had to wait half a century to avenge their beloved Sharon. After Mark Shorsaia received a call from the Canadian detectives, Franklin Romine's body was exhumed, the crime confirmed, and the case declared close at last. When the news broke to the long-grieving family of the victim, they had a somber celebration of justice for the Sharon Pryor, who would have been 64 today. In a press conference days after, Sharon sisters Maureen and Doreen Pryor, plus their aging mother, Yvonne Pryor, reflected on the conviction of a dead Franklin Romine. You may never have come back to our house or congregation street that weekend, but you have never left our hearts. And you never will, Sharon sister Maureen said. The solving of Sharon's case will never bring Sharon back, but knowing that her killer is no longer on this earth and won't kill anymore brings us to somewhat of a closure. Prior sister Doreen said, We love you, Sharon. Now you may truly rest in peace. Her sister said as they finally closed the horrific chapter of Sharon's rape and murder. They thanked the miracle of science that allowed them to find some semblance of redemption for the long-lost sister. In the end, this was a story of justice served, better late than never, a story of losing a child and slowly losing hope for justice over five decades, and ultimately a story of closure. Share this story with your friends. Ask them to put themselves in Sharon's family's shoes and think about what closure must feel like for a family that endured the worst. If you want to learn more about stories like Sharon's, drop a like and subscribe to the channel. And remember, stay safe out there.