Montgomery county police renew call for leads in kathy beatty cold case, 50 years later

Montgomery County Police renew call for leads in Kathy Beatty cold case, 50 years later

by
July 26, 2025
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MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. — Friday marked 50 years since 15-year-old Kathy Beatty was found brutally assaulted in a wooded area near her Aspen Hill neighborhood in 1975, and Montgomery County Police are renewing efforts to solve the decades-old cold case.

On July 24, 1975, Beatty was reported missing. The following day, her sister found her unconscious, partially clothed, and severely injured in a wooded area known to local teens as “the rocks,” behind the former K-Mart. Investigators determined she had been sexually assaulted and suffered fatal blunt force trauma to the head from a rock. She died a week later without regaining consciousness.

Despite years of investigation, no suspect has been identified. Cold case detectives, who had promised Beatty’s late mother they would continue pursuing justice, are now appealing to the public for new information.

The department’s Cold Case Section has released a podcast about Kathy’s case in hopes of reaching a new audience and generating fresh leads.

Montgomery County Police are urging anyone with knowledge of Kathy Beatty’s 1975 murder to come forward as they mark 50 years without an arrest.

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