The Mysterious Murder Of Vanessa Johnson

A Woman with no enemies. A suspicious fire. One dead body and no suspects. Vanessa Johnson was living her dream in 2003. The 39 year old had her own business and was a newlywed. She was a very happy outgoing person according to her sister. While being a very helpful person, when she wanted something in life she went out and got it. On February 8th, Vanessa left her home in Rockville Maryland at 10:00 AM for her second hand clothing store also located in Rockville Maryland. The post office is right next door to her shop. A postal employee was coming back from his route and he noticed fire coming from the consignment shop. Firefighters came and got in and started extinguishing the fire and found Vanessa's body in the back of the store. Her body was partially burned and she had been stabbed 14 times. Police said that Vanessa put up a big fight but she was stabbed so many times that she was simply overcome.

Vanessa's Mother says she couldn't imagine this happening and it was a nightmare. As in most murder cases, the victim's husband Clifford Solsen came under suspicion. Vanessa had met Clifford on the Internet. But they seemed to have a good relationship as far as anyone could tell. Police questioned Solsen but he was 30 miles away at a computer show at the time of the murder. He was eliminated as a suspect and the Police do not believe he had anything to do with the murder. After Cliff Solsen was cleared their was only one suspect and no one knew her name. The mailman gave a description of a black woman wearing a pillbox type of hat leaving the store. The possible motive was just as unclear as the suspect. The motive was not robbery because they didn't take Vanessa's purse or her car which was parked outside the store. The Detective on the case believes that the purpose was simply to murder Vanessa and set the fire to cover up the crime.

Vanessa's Mother thinks it was definitely premeditated because they brought the gasoline with them. She also thinks it was someone who knew Vanessa and just decided to murder her. On May 16th 2003, Vanessa's friends and family came together in her honor. She would have turned 40 years old that day. There were something like 200+ people who came out in her honor. A lot of the people who attended expressed surprise that a murder could occur in their own backyard. Her sister still goes to the park and releases balloons for her to this day. Her Mother says it would be one of the happiest days of her life to find out who killed her Daughter. Her killer is still out there.