Eight years on: Family desperately seeks closure in Pine Bluff cold case

Pine Bluff, Arkansas – It is a heart-wrenching wait for truth and justice that Sandy Goldman has endured since the discovery of her daughter, Maranda Goldman’s remains, in a secluded patch of woods in Pine Bluff. This year would have marked Maranda’s 31st birthday, but instead, it serves as a painful reminder of the family’s prolonged quest for answers.

Back on October 8, 2015, 23-year-old Maranda Goldman left her home, her eyes set on a brighter future. She was headed to apply for a job at Goodwill, a simple act that for many might signal the start of a new chapter. However, for Maranda, it turned out to be her last. Her sudden and mysterious disappearance immediately raised alarms for her family, particularly her mother.

“I knew that night when Maranda didn’t come home and she didn’t call me that something was wrong,” recalled Sandy Goldman, the fear and concern evident in her words.

The anguish grew when, just a month after Maranda’s disappearance, an anonymous tip guided the police to the grim discovery of her remains. “The day that they found her body out there I was just in such devastation,” said a tearful Goldman.

As the years passed, the wound of her daughter’s untimely departure has yet to heal. Sandy Goldman is now urging those with knowledge about the tragedy to step forward. “After eight years find it in your heart to come forward and tell the truth,” she pleads. A mother’s desperate call, seeking to make sense of the senseless.

Goldman acknowledges that Maranda was not without her share of struggles, associating with some questionable individuals. Yet, she stresses that her daughter was striving to change her life. The looming questions of who and why anyone would take Maranda’s life remain painfully unanswered.

“I know the Pine Bluff Police Department, with Pine Bluff the way it is, has a lot going on but I would love to see someone take Maranda’s case and go back to the beginning,” Sandy Goldman said, hoping for renewed efforts in the investigation.

The void Maranda left behind is palpable every day for her mother. “Every day I think of Maranda; she was just such a joy,” reminisces Goldman.

As the Goldman family continues to seek closure, the Pine Bluff Police Department welcomes any information that could shed light on Maranda Goldman’s case. Informants can choose to stay anonymous, and should their tip lead to an arrest and conviction, they stand to receive a cash reward.