GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Held right now in the Kent County prison, Garry Dean Artman, 64, is officially facing charges for two different cold cases in two different states- one in Maryland and one in West Michigan.
READ MORE: 64-year-old charged in 1996 cold case murder of Grand Rapids woman
Investigators are also trying to see if Artman can be connected to other cases, police say, after authorities from the Kent County Sheriff's Office searched a storage unit in Florida believed to belong to Artman on August 31. Police say that several pieces of women's underwear were found as evidence and will be examined, in order to determine if Artman had other victims.
In a press release, Maryland State Police announced on Monday that Artman is charged with the 2006 murder of Dusty Schuck, 24, who was found dead near a truck stop in Frederick County, Maryland.
The Medical Examiner ruled Schuck's death as a homicide by stabbing and blunt force trauma.
Police say it was suspected a truck driver could be responsible for Shuck's death, since she was left at a truck stop far away from where she disappeared, but there was limited evidence in the case.
It wasn't until two years after Shuck was found that police hit upon a lead. Police say a search of the Combined DNA Index System showed a DNA match between Shuck's case and a 1996 cold case in Michigan- a case that would be cracked open again in 2022.
In August, Artman was arrested and subsequently charged for the 1996 sexual assault and murder of a Grand Rapids woman, a 29-year-old mother named Sharon Hammack.
Hammack was found dead on 76th Street in Caledonia Township. She had two children and was pregnant with her third.
New DNA evidence was discovered, nearly 26 years after Hammack's death. Artman, a truck driver and Florida resident, was then linked to the case and taken into custody in Mississippi.
READ MORE: DNA search helps close 26-year-old cold case
The DNA evidence also confirmed a connection between Artman and the Maryland cold case.
Artman appeared in Kent county's 63rd District Court, where he now faces charges of open murder, felony murder, and 1st-degree criminal sexual conduct.
If convicted, Artman may be sentenced to life in prison.
