Sanford cold case arrest brings ‘sigh of relief’ for victim’s family

By Gail Paschall-Brown

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    SANFORD, Florida (WESH) — Last Friday, the Sanford Police Department announced the arrest of a 1999 homicide involving Sherry Holtz.

The suspect, 73-year-old Gary Durrance, is accused of the homicide.

For Eric Holtz, the son of the victim, the news, after a long wait, is a weight lifted off his shoulders.

“It’s some relief, it’s something I’ve carried around for 24 years,” Eric Holtz told WESH 2.

Twenty-four years ago, Sherry Holtz was killed in Sanford.

Someone collecting cans found her body in December of 1999 in a wooded area on South Orlando Drive.

“I was 31 years old and was just getting ready to get married, and this was not a good wedding gift or a Christmas gift, to say the least,” Eric Holtz said.

Eric Holtz was living in Illinois and taking care of his grandmother — Sherry Holtz’s mom.

“I was actually in the process of trying to find her to see if she wanted to move back up here and possibly live with me,” he said.

Last week, 73-year-old Durrance was arrested and accused of killing Sherry Holtz, who was his long-time girlfriend. She was 50 then.

“Her neck was cut, she suffered from blunt force trauma, strangulation and she was sexually battered,” Sanford police Chief Cecil Smith explained last Friday during a press conference announcing the arrest.

“Mr. Durrance might be the individual who stayed in my house on several occasions,” said Eric Holtz. “It kind of makes me a little unnerved.”

Eric Holtz says he’s thankful to Sanford police and recent DNA evidence on a knife, which linked Durrance to the crime.

“There was always a mustard seed of faith that something would, something would change. I didn’t know how, and then all of sudden, out of nowhere, DNA comes to rescue.”

Police say they obtained a confession from the suspect.

Eric Holtz, who’s now 56, says he’s forgiven the man, but he just wants to know why his mother was killed.

“I am grateful that the man was arrested. There is something that is lingering in the back of my mind is that, if he left behind any other victims in the past 24 years of domestic violence or anything else that hasn’t been reported.”

No doubt that is something Sanford investigators will be looking into.

Eric Holtz, Sherry Holtz’s only child, says he didn’t even know there had been numerous domestic violence incidents between the man and his mom until he saw all the suspect’s mug shots.

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