KENT COUNTY, Mich. — A 64-year-old man from White Springs, Florida has been charged with first-degree murder and second-degree assault in a cold case from 2006.
Garry Dean Artman is being charged by the Maryland State Police Homicide Unit investigators (MSPHUI) in connection to the death of Dusty Myriah Shuck, 24.
Authorities say Shuck was last seen alive at a local hotel in New Mexico on April 24, 2006. Her body was found May 4 nearby a rest stop in Fredrick County, Maryland by a passing motorist. She was wearing a tank top, hooded sweatshirt and sweatpants, but no shoes. The only identifiable part of her were two dragon tattoos located on her back with the words "Gypsy Rose" written beneath them.
The 2006 Office of the Chief Medical Examiner had ruled her death a homicide caused by stabbing and blunt force trauma.
MSPHUI immediately began an investigation following the ruling. Technicians from their Forensic Science Division attempted to process the scene for any evidence, but found that little had been left behind.
Few leads were made even after putting up message board signs, which are typically used for traffic safety warnings. Police ran out of luck with witnesses and surveillance cameras too.
However, the investigators did come to the conclusion that the suspect had to have been a truck driver, as it made the most sense considering where Shuck was originally from and where she was found. With that new idea, police scouted out multiple local truck stops. Despite interviewing several people, all of them were ruled out as suspects.
Police also searched through missing person databases and tattoo shops along the region. Nothing that would stick came out of it.
It wasn't until two years later on Aug. 18, 2008 when the investigators thought they might have caught a lucky break.
In a search within the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), they unexpectedly found an unknown DNA match between an unsolved 1996 Michigan State Police (MSP) case and a 2006 Maryland State Police case.
That 2006 case was thought of as the murder of 24-year-old Dusty Myriah Shuck from Silver City, New Mexico.
Though without a DNA match at the time, the case remained open.
Another 14 years would pass until MSPHUI would get a big lead, and that lead circled back to the 1996 MSP case they found.
On Aug. 17, 2022, a detective from the Kent County Sheriff's Office (KCSO) decided to call MSPHUI to tell them they had identified a suspect in their 1996 cold case.
Garry Dean Artman.
He is currently being held at the Kent County Jail after being caught in Mississippi by KCSO detectives. He was taken back to Michigan where his DNA was seized.
13 ON YOUR SIDE previously covered Artman when he was arrested back in August for the 1996 rape and murder of 29-year-old Sharon Hammack.
The KCSO confirmed it was Artman through the MSP Crime Lab on August 18. It not only matched their 1996 case, but Maryland's 2006 case. They then decided to hand over the DNA swab MSPHUI for them to test out themselves.
On Aug. 31, KCSO obtained a search warrant for Artman's storage unit back in Florida. They found several pieces of women's underwear, where they were then used on a lab to see if they belonged to any victims.
This is because in 1981, Artman spent 11 years in the Michigan Department of Corrections for a charge of Criminal Sexual Conduct 1st Degree. He was discharged in June 1992 on the maximum sentence.
That was four years before the murder of Sharon Hammack.
The saga of two investigations continue as MSPHUI comes to Michigan to conduct interviews and gather other information. Both teams say they are cooperating with each other.
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