Terry Horman still lingers over a picture that features the view from her son’s apartment window in Frederick. She said she wonders whether the picture will reveal something about the death of her son, Joshua Wayne Crawford, who painted the picture during the holidays a year before he was killed. Crawford, the second of Horman’s three sons, was found dead in his apartment on his 21st birthday: July 2, 2003.
Frederick County Sheriff’s Cpl. Jason West said Crawford died from suffocation and “blunt force injuries.” A few items were thought to be missing, including a guitar. The sheriff’s office has received a “multitude of tips” since 2003 — and investigators are still pursuing a lead from last month — but most have led investigators nowhere.
West said investigators received what they “thought was a significant lead in the case” last December, but the person was “not being truthful” after a 72-hour investigation into the tip. West said the person wanted to “jump-start the investigation.”
A Maryland state cold case grant provided funding for DNA testing of evidence in Crawford’s and other cases.
West said the testing began this past summer and he has only received the first round of results.
“There have been no results from the DNA analysis at this point that we’ve been able to link to a criminal suspect,” he said, adding that complete results can take up to a year.
Horman said her son knew who killed him because he must have opened the door since there were no signs of forced entry. She said she wants someone to “have the guts to come forth and not be afraid” so she can find long-awaited closure to fill the more than seven-year void of her son’s absence.
“I haven’t properly grieved for my son,” she said, “and that’s because of his case being open and the murderer is walking our streets.”
Horman said she still has a memorial every year in July, but she struggles as the years pass without answers.
“With the holidays coming up it really hurts right now because he’s not here, so Christmas time is a really, really sensitive time for me,” she said. “I still have a lot of pain and I hide it with smiles.”
Anyone with information can call the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office tip line at 301-600-4131.
