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'He just looked like a typical grandpa': Detective describes hearing confessions of alleged Cherokee Street stroll killer

Detective Sgt. Jodi Weber met with alleged serial killer Gary Muehlberg three times.

Christine Byers (KSDK)

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Published: 8:25 PM CDT September 20, 2022
Updated: 8:45 PM CDT September 20, 2022

Barb Studt and Geneva Valle-Palomino spent a few quiet moments Monday morning, Sept. 19 looking for their sister’s final resting place. 

They haven’t come very often to the St. Peter’s cemetery where 21-year-old Sandy Little was buried. It's too painful.

Her badly decomposed body was found in 1991 inside a makeshift box along Highway 70 in O’Fallon. They feared they would never learn who killed her.

The grave remains unmarked. It’s near the shadow of a statue of Jesus holding a baby sheep, called "The Good Sheppard." The cemetery donated the plot to the family after Little’s murder.

“Otherwise, who knows what would have happened,” Studt said. “Our family couldn’t afford a grave.”

But on Monday, they couldn’t think of a better place to spend their time. They were headed to a news conference in which prosecutors announced the identity of the man they believe tore apart their lives and those of at least four other families.

He confessed to killing five prostitutes between 1990 and 1991 that he picked up along what was once known as the Cherokee Street Stroll. The identity of one of the women remains a mystery.

In addition to thinking about the sister they never got to know in her later years, the women’s minds were also on the detective they say made the moment possible: O’Fallon Detective Sgt. Jodi Weber.

“I’m just so happy for Detective Weber,” Studt said. “She worked so hard on this case.”

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