MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WGNS) - Retired Rutherford County Sheriff's Office (RCSO) Sergeant Dan Goodwin passed away on Monday (October 5th). Goodwin, who retired after 30-years with the RCSO in 2023, worked patrol, served as one of the county's first five school resource officers in 1993, served as the public information officer from 1999 to 2011, worked narcotics, and more.

Goodwin built a lasting legacy in the RCSO Cold Case Unit alongside his partner, current Cannon County Sheriff Bill Sharp. Together, the duo solved eight homicides dating back to 1979 and resolved a 20-year-old kidnapping case.

One major investigation involved the May 31st, 1984 murder of 18-year-old MTSU student Laura Salmon, who was Goodwin's Sigma Chi fraternity little sister. Former Sheriff Truman Jones assigned Goodwin and Sharp to the case in February 2000. Their work produced a first-degree murder conviction against David Kyle Gilley in 2006, earning Goodwin the RCSO Officer of the Year award in 2002.

Goodwin earned Officer of the Year honors again in 2015 after he and Sharp reopened the 1986 death of Deborah Sherfield Bess, which authorities originally ruled a suicide. Their investigation led to the murder conviction of her husband, Jewell Moses Bess, nearly 29 years after her death.

In 2009, Goodwin and Sharp located two Baskin children in California who went missing in 1989 after being left with their grandparents. A tipster reported hearing the grandfather talk in a bar about taking the children, allowing detectives to track the suspect and file charges within 24 hours.

Goodwin is survived by his wife, Debbie, his children, and his grandchildren.

Funeral arrangements have not been announced.