By NC WANTED Staff

Posted: Jul. 28, 2009
Updated: Aug. 6, 2009

YADKIN COUNTY — Jonesville police sergeant Gregory Keith Martin probably didn’t realize he was about to confront his own murderer when he stopped a red pickup in the early morning of October 5, 1996.

But the routine traffic stop on Interstate 77 in Yadkin County suddenly turned deadly when Martin was shot and killed by an unknown assailant in the truck.

He was just 30 years old, and left behind a wife and three children.

Three days before the murder, a red 1996 Dodge Ram pickup truck and West Virginia license plate 4SD629 were stolen from Ramey Motors in Princeton, West Virginia.

A witness told investigators that two white young men in a new-looking green Dodge pickup with a camper cover and a Florida tag had come in to Ramey Motors and looked at the red pickup on October 1, 1996. Police believe they came back later that night and stole it.

Then, investigators said, after Martin was killed, the red pickup was abandoned at a small business named Lucia in Elkin, NC. A white 1980 Chevrolet van with a Lucia logo on its side was stolen from the business. That van was abandoned in a Home Depot parking lot in Gastonia off Interstate 85.

From there, the trail goes cold.

A composite sketch of the two men was compiled by law enforcement and can be seen by clicking the photo gallery link in the gray sidebar at right.

Two white young men generally fitting the description of the men seen at Ramey Motors were reported by another witness to have been asking for a ride on Interstate 77 shortly after Martin was killed.

Another composite sketch was compiled by police of a man seen driving the Lucia van on I-77 South not far from the crime scene.

Leads have steadily come in, but the case remains unsolved. It is the most recent of only three unsolved murders of police officersin North Carolina.

Police are asking anyone with information about stolen vehicles in the Gastonia area in 1996 to come forward. They are also looking for anyone who may have had contact with two men asking for a ride near the crime scene on Interstate 77 on October 5, 1996, or anyone who may have seen the green pickup truck with a camper cover the persons of interest were driving before stealing the red pickup.

There is a $30,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest(s) and conviction in this case.

If you have any information about the unsolved murder of Sgt. Gregory Keith Martin, call NC WANTED toll free at 1.866.43.WANTED (1.866.439.2683) or click on "Report a Tip" Your identity can be kept confidential.