Roberta Martin, an 82-year-old resident of Enosburgh, Vermont, was found dead in a wooded area near her home after being reported missing on July 17, 2024.
Vermont State Police have arrested 23-year-old Darren Martell in connection with her murder.
Martin was last heard from by her family on July 16. When neighbors noticed her absence the following day, they reported her missing, prompting a large-scale search involving law enforcement and community members. Her body was discovered on Sunday, July 21, in a wooded area off Sand Hill Road, not far from her home on Butternut Hollow Road.
Vermont State Police confirmed that Martin’s death is being investigated as a homicide. The exact cause and manner of her death are still pending, awaiting results from the medical examiner’s office.
Martell, a resident of St. Albans, was taken into custody late Thursday, July 25 on a charge of aggravated murder. He had been living with the residents of a house next to Martin’s home. Police had initially arrested Martell on Monday for lewd and lascivious conduct after finding him engaging in a lewd act along the edge of a public walking path between the St. Albans Town Educational Center middle school and a 55+ community. Martell fled from the police, leading to a temporary lockdown of the nearby school before he was apprehended. He was taken into custody on the murder charge while he was in jail on the lewd behavior charge.
Martell is currently being held pending bail review at the Northwest State Correctional Facility and was arraigned Friday afternoon in Vermont Superior Court in St. Albans. His lawyer pleaded not guilty on his behalf and Martell was ordered to not have any contact with Martin’s family or his partner, with whom he has children. If convicted of aggravated murder, he faces a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole.
The investigation into Martin’s death is ongoing, and Vermont State Police are continuing to gather evidence and interview potential witnesses. Authorities urge anyone with information related to the case to come forward.
