On April 17, 1986, 35-year-old Sally Heet, the press secretary for U.S. Senator Daniel J. Evans of Washington state, failed to show up for an early morning breakfast at Capitol Hill with a reporter for The Washington Post.
When they called her apartment, she did not answer the phone. She lived alone. Sally’s press assistant, Monica Gliva, called Sally’s stepbrother. They went to check on Sally together.
At the apartment building, Sally’s mailbox was unlocked and open. There was still mail inside it. They found Sally dead in her apartment. She had been brutally stabbed. She was also unclothed, and her clothes were neatly folded nearby.
At the time, the police determined that she had died the night before, on April 16, 1986. She had more than a dozen stab wounds. Her death was ruled a homicide. No evidence of robbery was found, and the murder weapon was never recovered.
The news of Sally’s tragic death devastated the entire office. She was described as independent, creative, positive, and friendly. Even though she did not have a background in journalism, she was very good at her job.
“People loved her,” said Lee Keller, Sally’s deputy press secretary. “I got to know her really well, and she was more like a big sister to me.”
Sally Heet was originally from Richmond, Indiana. She earned a bachelor’s degree in communications at the University of Washington in Seattle. After college, she became the vice president and manager of the Rainier National Bank Corporate Communications Division.
In 1983, when Evans was appointed to the Senate after the death of Senator Henry M. Jackson, he brought Sally on as his press secretary.
The police pursued multiple leads, but were unable to charge any suspects with the crime. Sally’s case has remained unsolved for 40 years, but her loved ones have not stopped pushing for justice.
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Her niece and goddaughter, Heather, who was 15 years old at the time of her death, reached out to the Metropolitan Police Department in 1998. For the last three years, she has been visiting D.C. to speak with detectives.
Detective Todd Williams of the Metropolitan Police started working on Sally’s case in 2022 as part of an initiative that funds investigations into violent cold cases. He is still retesting evidence from the crime scene and searching for any DNA matches. He believes Sally’s murder was not random.
In 2024, Heather created a website with information about her aunt’s case. There is a reward of up to $25,000 for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for Sally’s death. You can visit the website here.
Anyone with information about Sally’s case is urged to contact Detective Todd Williams with the Metropolitan Police Department at 202-277-4829 or the Homicide branch at 202-645-9600.
By Emily Chan
Emily Chan is a writer who covers lifestyle and news content. She graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in... More about Emily Chan
