Twenty years after the murder

THREE RIVERS, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) - It's a twenty year old mystery, a young mom was found murdered, her infant daughter was left alone and crying in her apartment.

19-year-old Cathy Swartz had been found stabbed in her Three Rivers apartment, a footprint found at the scene could be a key piece of evidence, but after comparing it to more than 1,000 people, still no match.

Now, twenty years later, prosecutors want to get people talking about the case again, hoping that it will lead to new information.

Newschannel 3 spoke with the victim's daughter, who was just a baby in the home the night her mother was killed.

Courteney Swartz doesn't remember her mom, but over the years she's learned all about her. Now Courteney is a mom herself, and hopes that police in Three Rivers won't forget about her mom and the search for her killer.

"It was in the third grade," Courteney said, explaining how she was told what happened to her mother when Courteney was still just an infant. "I remember I was crying, asking them why."

Cathy Swartz's parents ended up raising their granddaughter. Courteney learned about her mom from friends and family members.

"I hear all the time, she was so nice, so pretty, fun to hang out with," Courteney said. "I never got to know her really."

Now, Courteney is just a little bit older than Cathy was when she was killed.

Tuesday, the family was together to remember Cathy on the twentieth anniversary of her death.

"It's hard, real hard," said Audrey Swartz, Cathy's mother.

Prosecutors and detectives in Three Rivers are hoping that advanced technology might help them find a DNA match to evidence found in the apartment after the murder. They also hope someone around town knows something, that the murderer hasn't been able to keep quiet all these years and that the passage of time could help in solving the case.