14 Years After Texas Woman Was Slain in Boyfriend's Bed, a Sheriff Hopes to Finally Find Her Killer

Authorities have yet to make any arrests since 19-year-old Brittany McGlone was brutally murdered in her boyfriend's Winnsboro, Texas, home in 2007

Photo: Courtesy Patricia Tice

Fourteen years ago, Patricia Tice received horrifying news that would haunt her forever: Her 19-year-old daughter, Brittany McGlone, had been bludgeoned to death in her boyfriend's home.

"Since May 4th, 2007, my whole life has changed ... I don't feel safe anywhere," Tice tells Stephanie Bauer, special contributor for PEOPLE (the TV Show!). "That my sweet 19-year-old daughter could be murdered the way she was in a small town, and that she was surrounded by monsters and people capable of murder — and that I had no idea."

Brittany was attacked in her sleep while staying with her boyfriend's family in the town of Winnsboro, Texas. Her boyfriend said she was alone in the home for a few hours that morning, and when he and his family returned, they discovered Brittany dead.

Nearly a decade and a half later, authorities have yet to make any arrests in Brittany's murder, or find any answers.

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"I never thought that we'd be here this many years later without some kind of resolution," says Hope McGlone, Brittany's younger sister. "It's made a difficult situation even more difficult."

Fortunately, Brittany's family recently found a glimmer of hope in the form of a newly elected sheriff who is resolved to solve the murder. (The case was featured on Tuesday night's episode of PEOPLE (the TV Show!). A clip is shown below.)

Wood County Sheriff Kelly Cole was a criminal investigator at the time of Brittany's murder. He hopes that in his new role, he can breathe life back into the cold case.

Thanks to advancement in DNA technology, he just might be able to.

Sheriff Kelly Cole. Stephanie Bauer

Already, Cole says his team has multiple persons of interest in Brittany's murder, and the more they've uncovered, the more they've grown to believe that two people may have been involved.

"At this point in time, the way we look at it, we're not ruling anyone out," Cole says, explaining that in a case like this, both circumstantial and physical evidence needs to be airtight.

"It's not just finding someone to arrest," he says. "We want to make sure we've got everything like it needs to be, because we may only get one shot at prosecuting this. And we want to make sure that that counts."

In the meantime, Brittany's family remains hopeful and appreciative of Cole and his team for continuing to seek answers so many years later. Tice even says this is the first time in 14 years that she's trusted an administration put in charge of the investigation.

"In first few days after Brittany was murdered, I think we and even law enforcement put a lot of hope in once the DNA comes back, this is going to be solved," she says. "And I think when that didn't happen, a lot of folks just gave up."

Courtesy Patricia Tice

Brittany worked two jobs at the time that she was killed and planned to go to college for nursing. She played trumpet in her high school's marching band, and graduated with honors.

"She was a dream kid honestly," Tice says, "never gave me a moment's trouble."

"When you think of the most innocent, goodhearted person, she truly was that," Hope says. "I mean truly a genuinely great person, inside and out."

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