Man arrested in Mississippi for 1996 Kent County murder

(KENT COUNTY, Mich.) Kent County Major Case Detectives have made an arrest in the 1996 murder of Sharon Hammack. 

Gary Dean Artman, a 64-year-old man from Florida was arrested in Mississippi and is expected to extradited to Michigan.

The Kent County Sheriff's Office says advancements in DNA testing made it possible for them to piece together evidence related to the murder that took place on October 3, 1996. 

The prosecutor's office will be charging Artman with Homicide - Open Murder, Homicide - Felony Murder, and Criminal Sexual Conduct 1st Degree. 

Hammack was found dead by on 76th St SE between Patterson Ave and Kraft Ave in Caledonia Township. 

Deputies determined that she had been sexually assaulted and strangled to death. 

Law enforcement offices that helped with the case include the Mississippi State Highway Patrol , the Mississippi Bureau of Investigations, the Forrest County Sheriff's Office in Mississippi, the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office in Alabama, the Columbia County Sheriff's Office in Florida, the Michigan state Police Crime Lab, the Kent County Prosecutor's Office, and the US Postal Inspection Service.