$10,000 Reward: 33 years after murder on Thumb Butte trail, Cathy Sposito’s investigators continue their hunt for justice

Cathy Sposito was killed in Prescott on June 13, 1987. Cold case investigators continue to work on the case. (YCSO and Yavapai Silent Witness/Courtesy)

Cathy Sposito was killed in Prescott on June 13, 1987. Cold case investigators continue to work on the case. (YCSO and Yavapai Silent Witness/Courtesy)

A one-time Prescott College student Cathy Sposito should be spending this Saturday savoring a sunny afternoon, possibly with a hike or bike ride to a favorite trail somewhere.

Instead the Brooklyn, New York, native’s adventuresome spirit as a 23-year-old college co-ed came to a tragic halt 33 years ago this Saturday, June 13.

At about 7 a.m. June 13, 1987, the long-haired brunette biked to the Thumb Butte trailhead and started climbing up the steep, picturesque trail with lovely views of the city below. A short time later, other hikers in the area recall hearing a woman screaming for help.

Twenty minutes later, the hikers discovered Sposito’s body, apparently bludgeoned to death, according to the state Medical Examiner’s Office that deemed Sposito’s fatal injuries were the result of “blunt force trauma.”

Sposito’s murder stunned Prescott, a seemingly safe city known for its outdoor pleasures. The Thumb Butte Trail is one of the more popular hikes in the area.

Yavapai County Sheriff Scott Mascher, a new-to-the force deputy at the time, recalled in prior news articles that Sposito’s traumatic death was particularly unsettling because it happened on such a well-known trail in a place where vicious crimes were extraordinarily rare.

For more than three decades, the Sposito case has been one that investigators keep open, with various clues emerging over time, including the hunt for a small caliber gun thought to be somehow involved in the murder that is believed to have been tossed somewhere between the Thumb Butte trail site and the Castle Canyon area of Prescott Valley, according to the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office.

A motive for the grisly crime has never been publicly identified.

Mascher will be retiring this year. The sheriff has long said this is a case he would like to solve before he hangs up his shield. Like Sposito’s family and friends, Mascher has never forgotten the young woman who deserved to still be spending her weekends venturing into the woods and blowing candles out on three decades worth of birthday cakes.

Four days before the 33rd anniversary of the date that Sposito was fatally attacked by one or more unknown assailants who so far have not been publicly identified or apprehended, the Sheriff’s Office and Yavapai Silent Witness again released a reminder of the cold case.

Through a combination of modern forensics and a $10,000 cash reward for information leading to an arrest, the two agencies hope to find justice for Sposito.

Anyone who may have information is asked to contact the Yavapai Silent Witness tip line – all tips are anonymous – at 800-932-3232.


Donate Report a Typo Contact
Most Read