CHARLES COUNTY, Md. — A decades-old mystery is solved in Charles County, and a family desperate for answers finally has some closure.
Forty-four years after Vickie Lynn Belk's body was discovered off of Metropolitan Church Road in Charles County on Aug. 29, 1979, the sheriff's office announced an arrest in the case on Thursday.
Investigators arrested Andre Taylor, 62, of Washington, D.C. for Belk's murder. Taylor was just 18 at the time. Police say the two were not known to each other. Police believe Taylor abducted her, raped her and killed her. He was charged with first-degree murder and first-degree rape, investigators said in Thursday's press conference.
In honor of Belk, her family established a The Vickie Lynn Belk Foundation, which is still active today. The foundation provides scholarships, in Vickie’s name, to students in Alexandria.
The Belk family is well-known in Alexandria. Vickie Belk had an 8-year-old son at the time she was killed. Lamont Belk has since gone on to a career in criminal justice as a United States Attorney.
"I'm able to attribute that to her loss," Lamont Belk said of his mother's death impacting his career trajectory.
Vickie's mom, Maydell Belk, was a lifelong Alexandria resident who was active in the Civil Rights movement. Maydell Belk joined a lawsuit in 1959 that forced the desegregation of schools in Alexandria. Vickie and her sister Judy were among the first Black students to attend Minnie Howard High School in Alexandria.
"She held my hand and checked on me as she always did, Judy Belk said recalling the moment she and her sister walked inside the Alexandria school together.
Judy and Lamont Belk, along with other family members, were on hand at the announcement of the arrest.
Lamont and Judy Belk expressed "much tremendous gratitude" to everyone who helped solve the case, from investigators to those who helped preserve the evidence that was eventually used to provide a DNA match to Taylor. Investigators say Taylor's DNA was in the system already because of two unrelated murder investigations in 1980 and 1989.
"Folks did their job, and they did it well. Thank you for caring and providing us a little bit of closure," Judy Belk said.
"I just thank God for allowing us to be alive and well to see this moment," Lamont Belk said. "The community is a little bit safer today."
Both Lamont and Judy said they never gave up in the pursuit of justice for Vickie. In the decades since her death, Judy Belk has become a fierce advocate for violence intervention, both in terms of gun violence, and violence against women.
"I view Vickie's death as a marker — before and after," Judy Belk said.
She said following Vickie's death, the community rallied around the family and began donating money, which would eventually become the basis of the foundation.
"As horrific as Vickie's death was, we chose to focus on how she lived," Judy Belk said.
Charles County Sheriff Troy Barry said investigators never gave up.
"We are relentless in our pursuit of justice," Barry said.