LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX18) — A cold case remains unsolved more than three decades later, and it's a case LEX 18 has followed closely since the 1990s. Throughout the years, DNA evidence has been found, and potential leads haven't panned out.
LEX18's Kayleigh Randle spoke to the brother of Valeri Brooks, who was kidnapped and murdered in Versailles, about the answers he still seeks to help bring the murder of his sister to justice.
"Valeri wanted to take care of everybody," said Michael Brooks, Valeri's brother. "She especially family and friends, she was fiercely, fiercely loyal."
For Brooks, New Year's Eve means more than just ringing in the new year. It's also a grave reminder that his sister's murder case goes another year unsolved.
It's been 35 years since 22-year-old Valeri Brooks was kidnapped, raped, and murdered in Versailles. Valeri, a mother to two boys, was working the night of December 30, 1990, when she took on an extra late-night shift. It was the last time anyone would see her alive.
Versailles police say that night they were called to a robbery alarm at Thornton's, but the gas station was empty. Five hours later, on December 31, police say they were contacted by a woman traveling down a rural road when she spotted something: Valeri's body.
"If it was random, it's something that somebody was gonna repeat. Nobody does, and I've said this in the past. Nobody goes to that level of violence over that long a period of time, and it just happens once," Brooks said.
Despite having DNA evidence, police have yet to figure out who killed Valeri.
"I think it's possible, but I don't feel it's probable at this point," Brooks said.
Even now, Brooks said Valeri's absence doesn't get any easier.
"Yesterday morning, I was on my way into work. I was going in a little bit early, and I look down at the clock was like 6:45. I'm like 35 years ago right now. This is, it was a crushing wave. I had to get myself together before I went into work," Brooks said.
He says police haven't reached out about Valeri's case in nearly eight years. He wishes Versailles Police would do better and that someone would come forward with a lead.
"If you saw something that morning. You were driving around. She was missing for about five hours. There's a five-hour block of time we don't know where she was. We know where she wasn't. Did you see something? Did you hear something?" Brooks said.
He asks anyone with a lead or the smallest piece of information to reach out, because what may seem like nothing could end up being something.
