Suspect identified 27 years after woman murdered in suburban D.C. hospital

Nearly three decades after a woman was murdered in the suburban Washington, D.C., hospital where she worked, police believe they may have finally identified her killer.

Sheryl Crandell was discovered unresponsive inside of her office at Prince George's Hospital Center in Cheverly, Maryland, on Jan. 13, 1998, according to Othram, Inc., the forensic laboratory that eventually helped authorities resolve her case. An autopsy later showed that she died from strangulation and had been sexually assaulted. Crandell, who was 50 at the time, had been employed at the hospital as a patient coordinator.

Although DNA was recovered from the scene, investigators could not identify a suspect in the killing until now.

Cold case detectives from the Prince George's County Police Department reopened their