BOZEMAN — “Somebody knows something somewhere.”
For the last forty years, Ruby Burney has been asking herself a question: Why? Why was her 23-year-old brother, Randy Church, murdered in Bozeman? Ruby recalls hearing the news after receiving a phone call from her mother.
“(My mom) told me, and I don’t know why, but the first thing out of my mouth was ‘what do we do now?’ I will never, ever forget that day.”
WATCH: "What Do We Do Now?": Sister's Heartfelt Plea in Unsolved Murder of Randy Church
On February 10th, 1985, 23-year-old Randy Church was closing the Pizza Hut restaurant off Main Street in Bozeman. Temperatures that night dipped to 2 degrees. Church was reportedly closing with another employee, whom he later sent home early while he continued to clean and follow the closing procedure.
“Randy was very meticulous about the closing of Pizza Hut -- he cleaned everything, deep cleaned everything, and very meticulous about the books,” Detective Spencer Jenkins, Bozeman Police Department, said.
According to reports, Randy was discovered with a gunshot wound the next morning, when his manager was called to the restaurant.
"I talked to the detective, the new detective: he's awesome. We made a deal that we would talk every three months, and he has stuck to that. He may not be able to tell me much, but he does at least let me know that they are still working on it," Ruby said.
Ruby emphasizes the importance of keeping what is now Bozeman’s only cold case at the top of people’s minds because: ‘somebody knows something somewhere’.
“Back in the day, you might have been scared to say anything. Back in the day, you may have been friends with this guy – chances are you probably aren’t now. So if you know something, come forward,” Ruby said.
Along with keeping the case in the forefront of people’s minds, Ruby wishes to keep Randy’s memory alive.
“What a remarkable man he was. He’d give you the shirt off his back if he could help in any way. He was there to help,” Ruby said.
WATCH: Family of Murdered Bozeman Student Calls for Justice Nearly 37 Years After Tragedy
WATCH: "What was so important that you had to kill him?"
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