He was captured and extradited within months of her death, sentenced for an unrelated crime, and released a few years later. It took DNA testing on his exhumed remains, decades after his own death, to finally connect him to her murder.
The 1975 rape and murder of 16-year-old Sharron Prior in Montreal was solved in 2023 through DNA testing, which linked the crime to Franklin Maywood Romine, a man with an extensive criminal history who had died in Canada in 1982.
A Disappearance in 1975
Sharron Prior disappeared on March 29, 1975, after setting out to meet friends at a pizza parlor near her home in Montreal's Pointe-Saint-Charles neighborhood. Her body was found three days later in a wooded area in Longueuil, on Montreal's South Shore. Investigators pursued more than 100 suspects over the following decades without making an arrest.
A Suspect With a Documented History
Romine, born in Huntington, West Virginia, in 1946, had a lengthy criminal record and a documented pattern of moving between West Virginia and Canada to evade law enforcement, including two prison escape attempts in the 1960s. In 1974, he was arrested for breaking into a home and raping a woman in Parkersburg, West Virginia; released on bond, he fled to Canada. Months after Sharron's murder, Canadian border officials captured him and extradited him back to West Virginia, where he was sentenced to five to ten years for the Parkersburg assault. He died in Canada in 1982, shortly after his release, though officials have said they were unable to locate a death certificate detailing the circumstances.
A DNA Match, Decades Later
Romine's name didn't surface in the investigation until 2022, when Longueuil police reviewing criminal records identified his history of violence and cross-border movement. In May 2023, his remains were exhumed from a cemetery in Putnam County, West Virginia, for DNA testing. Investigators said the results matched DNA evidence recovered from Sharron's murder scene with complete certainty.
A Family's Decades-Long Search
Sharron's mother, Yvonne Prior, now in her 80s, spent the rest of her life searching for her daughter's killer. Local prosecutor Mark Sorsaia, commenting on the case after the exhumation, described it as a devastating loss no family should have to endure.
Frequently Asked Questions
How was Sharron Prior's murder finally solved?
DNA testing conducted on the exhumed remains of Franklin Maywood Romine in 2023 matched DNA evidence recovered from her 1975 murder scene.
Was Franklin Romine ever tried for Sharron Prior's murder?
No. He died in 1982, more than 40 years before he was identified as her killer, so no trial ever took place.
Did Romine serve time for any crimes during his life?
Yes. He was sentenced to five to ten years in West Virginia for an unrelated 1974 sexual assault conviction, following his extradition from Canada.