Dateline: Unforgettable: What happened to Michelle Martinko?

Dateline: Unforgettable covered the mysterious murder of Michelle Martinko which shocked the state of Iowa, USA.

On December 19, 1979, an 18-year-old high school student, Michelle Martinko, was found stabbed to death in her family's car in the parking lot of a local mall. She had gone to the mall after a choir banquet to buy a coat.

The murder quickly became a state affair and the police were all hands on deck to catch the culprit. In the weeks that followed, the police received over 200 tips related to her murder. Unfortunately, the case gradually grew cold as the investigation kept stretching.

Nearly 39 years after the murder, DNA technology was used to arrest an Iowa man, Jerry Lynn Burns for the killing. His DNA was found to match the sample discovered on Martinko's clothing. On August 7, 2020, Burns was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Let's take a closer at the tragic killing of Michelle Martinko.

Trigger warning: This article contains details of the murder. Discretion advised.

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Michelle Martinko was stabbed 29 times which resulted in her death

Born on October 6, 1961, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa to Albert and Janet, Michelle Martinko was a high school student during her demise. She went to Cedar Rapids Kennedy High School and was regarded as an above-average student.

Michelle wasn't just a part of the twirling squad but also in the choir and was involved with theater. Her dream was to study interior design at Iowa State University.

On December 19, 1979, Michelle attended a musical banquet. She donned a black jersey dress, black scarf, black tights and heels, a waist-length white and brown rabbit fur jacket and carried a brown leather purse. Michelle Martinko wanted to go to the recently opened Westdale Mall where she was also employed.

Before leaving for the mall, she had asked a twirling squad teammate to accompany her, which she declined. Martinko reached the mall to buy a new winter coat with $180 in her purse. Upon arriving at her destination, she was seen conversing with friends and people she knew in the mall.

She then vanished after being seen at 8 or 9 pm outside a jewelry store in the mall. Since she didn't return home by 2 am, her father reported her missing. Both her father and the police began their search and ultimately found the family's tan and green 1972 Buick Electra in the northeast corner of the mall parking lot. Inside it was Martinko's brutally stabbed lifeless corpse.

She had been stabbed 29 times in the face, neck, and chest. She also had defensive wounds which indicated that she fought back. The lack of blood outside the car suggested that the entire incident took place inside the car. The medical examiner later estimated that she had died between 8 and 10 pm

The murder weapon was a sharp object but wasn't determined to be a knife. The killer left no fingerprints, leading the police to believe that he was wearing gloves. It was also assumed that the culprit was male but couldn't be confirmed at the time. The crime was not committed with the intention of robbery or s*xual assault as her purse still contained cash and her body was fully clothed.

It took 39 years to solve this tragic case when in October 2018, DNA was covertly collected fromJerry Lynn Burns and was found to match the sample discovered on Martinko's clothing. He was sent to prison for the rest of his life without parole.