After 30 Years Grieving, Homicide Victim's Family Is Ready to Find Answers

Siblings Say It's Now Time To Find Their Sister's Killer

In the 30 years since their sister was raped and killed, the Belk siblings rarely concerned themselves with finding the person responsible.

Honoring Vickie Belk's memory seemed much more important than personally investigating her slaying. So the family poured their grief into helping others. They chose careers in public service -- police officer, firefighter, philanthropy adviser -- using work as a distraction from the pain. They started a scholarship in Vickie's name and have awarded 86 kids nearly $100,000 for college.

But now, almost to the day that Vickie's body was discovered in Charles County, the Belk siblings want answers.

"It's like an itch or horrible scab where you want closure," said Judy Belk-Peeks. "Thirty years is a long time to not have closure."

In recent weeks, the family has reconnected with the Charles County Sheriff's Office and its lone cold-case detective, who told them that newly discovered pieces of evidence from the scene are being analyzed for DNA. Moved by the Belks' passion, the detective has put Vickie's homicide at the top of his priority list and is hoping to persuade anyone with information to come forward.

"We feel that somebody knows something, and as a family, we're not going to give up any hope," said Kay Belk-Dailey, 51. "We don't want to wait any longer."

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The Belk family seemed unlikely to be touched by homicide.

Maydell Casey Belk's son and five daughters lived in a close-knit African American community in Alexandria. From an early age, they were taught to value education and social justice. Vickie and her younger sister Judy were among the first black students to integrate Minnie Howard Elementary School after their mother sued so they could attend. Four of the girls eventually went to college, and their brother joined the Marines.

That is not to say the family was perfect. The youngest sister, Granada Belk, is jailed on manslaughter charges. She was convicted in the late 1990s of killing her boyfriend and sentenced to 12 years in prison, family members said.

Vickie graduated from St. Augustine's College in Raleigh, N.C., and by 1979 had been working as an analyst for the Department of Agriculture, her siblings said. She split time between her family home in Alexandria and her boyfriend's place in Suitland. She was not much for partying, drinking or drugs. Instead, she spent her time taking care of her 8-year-old son, Lamont, and volunteering at her church, Oakland Baptist, her siblings said.

Through a family member, Lamont, now a prosecutor in DeKalb County, Ga., declined to be interviewed for this story.