GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (June 4, 2014) — A man who has been dead for nearly seven years has been identified as the killer in a death in 2006.
The Kent Metro Cold Case Team officially named Anthony Curtis Gundy, who died in 2007, as the one who strangled Starkinya Vance on November 23, 2006.
Vance, then 28, was found in the grass along New Avenue near Grand Street SW. Even though DNA evidence on the victim tied Gundy to the Vance, he denied knowing or ever being in contact with her. Without more proof, the case went cold.
The cold case team took up the case in 2012 and linked Gundy to a vehicle seen in a video. In the video, Vance is seen getting in. She was never seen again alive.
Then the team discovered that Gundy had died in 2007 of respiratory failure.
The Kent County Prosecutor’s Office reviewed the investigated and considers the case solved. Since the suspect is dead, the investigation is ended and no charges can be filed.
In a release, the Kent Metro Cold Case Team, comprised of detectives from the Michigan State Police, Kent County Sheriff Department and the Grand Rapids Police Department, are credited with the 16th homicide solved since the team was formed in 2006.
