The Monroe County Sheriff's Office is asking the public for help in solving a 55-year-old cold case.  

In July 1963, the bodies of 18-year-old Shari Smoyer and 17-year-old Jack King were found by a fisherman in an area off Route 96 in Bushnell's Basin, known then as Lover's Lane.

The two were on a date, last seen around 1 a.m. after a movie at the Starlight Drive in Henrietta; where the Delta Sonic gas station now sits at West Henrietta and Brighton Henrietta Townline Roads.

Two teenage hitchhikers told police back in '63 that they saw the green and white 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air the two rode in travel down Jefferson Road in Pittsford, headed toward Bushnell's Basin around that time. 

A fisherman found the teens on the ground outside the car with gunshot wounds. Smoyer also sustained blunt force trauma. Police declared the deaths a double homicide. 

"This is sort of one of those big haunting gaps in your family story that you really want closure for," said Lynn King, Jack King’s niece who lives in Buffalo.

She began to investigate her uncle's death years ago and, working through a true crimes author, developed information that she offered to the Monroe County Sheriff's Office four years ago. 

The couple wasn't robbed or sexually assaulted, and with no known enemies or motives, the case grew cold. The sheriff's office is still determined to solve the crime, led by an investigator who responded to the King family's new lead.

"Every investigator who has worked on this case so far when it initially happened is dead," said investigator Michael Shannon. "Almost all the deputies have passed away. So really, we're hoping to get some closure and solve this thing before it's too late."

Mike King was just 9 years old when his older brother died.

"I don't think my family, myself or my family, is looking for a conviction. That's slim to none," he said. "But there could be some closure, there could be that missing piece, and maybe that miracle happens, that 55 years later we get a Christmas gift." 

Officials at the sheriff's office say no tip is too small and asks anyone with anything to call the tipline at 585-753-4175.