29 days ago
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It's a neighborhood where parents raise their children; quiet, unsuspecting. It's a neighborhood where neighbors talk and rely on each other.
Kay Brashear explains, "He was a nice guy. When I first moved here, he came over here and asked me if there was anything he could do to help me."
He was simply known as Al to the people on Newcastle Drive in Sherwood.
Sharon Parris says, "Really nice guy, really quiet, never loud parties, never had a lot of company."
But on a warm summer day in 2007, Alfred Polk had a visitor. Crime scene pictures show food still in the oven.
Detective Frank Spence says, "He was expecting someone. But we don't know who. We've never been able to prove who he was expecting or what happened to make it go like this."
Furniture was moved. There were dishes on the floor. Police say both are signs of a struggle.
Spence adds, "This seems to be a personal crime."
Spence has worked the case from the beginning and says whoever killed Polk likely didn't mean to. That's because he had been punctured just once near his neck, but the wound struck a major artery. He bled to death. Officers say a screw driver found at the scene may be the murder weapon.
Cora Wilborn is Polk's sister. She says, "It just felt like a little stick, like a bump, a stick and I wondered what happened?
She found his body, naked. However, there was no blood nearby.
"Cleaning products were used and there had been evidence that he had been cleaned up some," explains Detective Spence.
Spence says Polk was killed in the kitchen but his body was found in the living room.
He says, "They wouldn't have undertaken the cleaning at the scene that we think happened if they didn't know him."
"What was so devastating for you to take his life? What did he do to you? That is all I want to know," explains Wilborn.
And as rare as crime is in Sherwood, Wilborn says it's just as rare for someone to argue with Polk.
She cries, "You never would think that nobody would every hurt him because he was too nice."
Police have interviewed nearly 100 people in this investigation and there have never really been any suspects. In fact, officers say they are no closer to solving this murder today than the day it happened."
A male's DNA was found under Polk's fingernails but it matches no one in the crime database. Still, Spence believes one day a break will come. It's his mission, he says, to keep fighting.
"I would love to call those people and say we got him. We found out what happened. This is what happened," he says.
A constant reminder sits at his desk. It's a photo album full of Polk's pictures. It was given to Spence by Polk's family.
"They asked me to keep it here and then when we are able to solve it, I can give it back to them with the ribbon tied," he says.
Alfred Polk, a kind man with a gentle heart. His house now etched with a haunting secret.
Wilborn says, "He was my friend. I really miss him."
It's an awful crime in a trusting neighborhood; one that his sister prays won't be forgotten as just another head-shaking statistic.
"I am not going to give up," says Wilborn.
If you know any information about this unsolved crime you can contact the Sherwood Police Department at 501-835-1425. Callers can remain anonymous.
This weekly segment is our continuing effort here at Today's THV to shed light on what our local law enforcement agencies are doing to solve the state's countless unsolved murders and missing person cases. You can watch it every Wednesday on the "THV 10:00 Difference."
If you know of an Arkansas Cold Case, let us know by e-mailing us at news@todaysthv.com.
You can click on the links below to watch some of our previous cold case stories.
15 Years And Still No Sign Of Missing Teen
Police Continue To Fight To Bring Morgan Home
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