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Missing Sharon Ann Martin 
Martin, approximately 2006; John Homer Docherty IV Date reported missing : 03/31/2006 Missing location (approx) : Pensacola, Florida Missing classification : Endangered Missing Gender : Female Ethnicity : White DOB : 12/23/1950 (70) Age at the time of disappearance: 55 years old Height / Weight : 5'6, 140 pounds Distinguishing characteristics, birthmarks, tattoos : Caucasian female. Brown hair, hazel eyes. Information on the case from local sources, may or may not be correct : Martin was last seen in Pensacola, Florida on March 31, 2006. She was showing a man and woman an apartment she manAge at the time of disappearance: d on on East Nine Mile Road that day. She called her husband at lunchtime. She has never been heard from again. About a month after Martin disappeared, John Homer Docherty IV was arrested and charged with grand theft, forgery, fraud, and illegal use of a credit card. He'd used Martin's credit card at a local Wal-Mart several times after her disappearance, and he tried to cash a forged check in her name as well. He was a maintenance worker at an apartment complex Martin owned, and they had a close relationship; Martin's husband suspected they were lovers. Authorities searched Docherty's apartment and found a piece of bloodstained carpet in the bedroom that matched Martin's DNA, as well as other possible blood tEthnicity : s. In November 2006, he was additionally charged with Martin's murder. A photograph of Docherty is posted with this case summary. A witness stated on the night of Martin's disappearance, he helped Docherty lift a heavy trash can into a dumpster. He said it "didn't feel right" and he even asked Docherty if the trash can contained a body. Docherty gave him $450 in cash after they'd put the can in the dumpster. Another witness saw Docherty looking through the dumpster with a flashlight that same night. Police believe he may have removed Martin's body at that time and disposed of it elsewhere. At his trial in 2008, Docherty's defense argued there was no proof Martin was dead and she might have left on her own. She had dropped out of sight for as long as eight months at a time before. A jury convicted Docherty of manslaughter in February 2008, acquitting him of the more serious charge of first-degree murder. He was sentenced to fifteen years in prison. He maintains his innocence in Martin's presumed homicide. Docherty has a prior criminal record for theft-, fraud- and weapons-related charges. He is scheduled for release in 2021. Martin is an Air Force veteran and former flight attendant. Investigators believe Docherty killed her to obtain her $2.5 million fortune. Her body has never been found, but foul play is suspected in her disappearance due to the circumstances involved. Other information and links : ncy Escambia County Sheriff's Office 850-433-7867 September 2021 updates and sources Florida Department of Law Enforcement The Pensacola News Journal Florida Department of Corrections October 12, 2004. October 26, 2010; Information on the case from local sources, may or may not be correct : updated. |