SUNSET HILLS, MO – September 26, 2026 (STL.News) More than 26 years after 75-year-old James “Jim” Campbell was shot at a marina in Sunset Hills, police are again asking the public for information about an unusual cold case in which the victim survived long enough to describe the man he said shot him.
Campbell was shot Sept. 18, 2000, at Meramec Marina, then located at 13156 Old Gravois Road in Sunset Hills.
He did not die immediately.
Campbell survived the shooting for nearly seven weeks before dying from his injuries, according to information released by the Sunset Hills Police Department and publicized in August by St. Louis Regional CrimeStoppers.
The case remains unsolved.
What makes the homicide particularly unusual is what happened immediately before the shooting — and what Campbell was able to tell investigators afterward.
Police say Campbell had gone to the marina specifically to meet someone.
The day before the shooting, Campbell told several people that he planned to meet an individual at the marina. But investigators say Campbell was experiencing memory loss at the time and could not recall the identity of the person he intended to meet.
Shortly after Campbell arrived, he was shot.
Officers found him lying on the marina’s main dock suffering from a gunshot wound.
Despite being seriously wounded, Campbell survived long enough to provide investigators with a description of the person he said had shot him.
According to police, Campbell described the shooter as a white man in his mid-20s with blond, curly hair.
More than a quarter-century later, investigators still want to know who that man was — and who Campbell intended to meet that day.
Campbell went to the marina to meet someone
The planned meeting is one of the most important publicly known facts in the investigation.
According to the current CrimeStoppers account, Campbell told several people on Sept. 17, 2000, that he planned to meet someone at Meramec Marina the following day.
On Sept. 18, Campbell went to the marina.
Police say he was shot shortly after arriving.
That creates an obvious investigative question that remains unanswered publicly: Who was Campbell expecting to meet?
Authorities have not publicly identified that person.
There is also an important distinction between the unidentified person Campbell planned to meet and the man Campbell later described as his attacker.
Publicly available information does not establish that they were the same person.
There is no basis to conclude that Campbell’s planned meeting was necessarily with his eventual killer.
Instead, investigators are seeking information that could answer both questions: who Campbell intended to meet and who matched the description Campbell provided of the person who shot him.
Campbell described the man who shot him
Campbell’s survival after the shooting gave investigators something many homicide investigations never receive — information directly from the victim.
According to Sunset Hills police, Campbell described the person who shot him as a white man in his mid-20s with blond, curly hair.
Campbell was found on the main dock suffering from a gunshot wound.
He survived for nearly seven weeks but ultimately died from his injuries.
The description Campbell provided has remained one of the central publicly disclosed clues in the case.
If Campbell’s estimate of the attacker’s age was approximately correct, someone in his mid-20s in September 2000 would likely be around 50 years old today.
That calculation does not identify a suspect, nor does it establish that Campbell’s estimate was exact. It does, however, illustrate why investigators hope someone who knew the area or the people involved in 2000 might recognize the description even after so much time has passed.
Police have not publicly named a suspect in Campbell’s killing.
A 26-year-old mystery
The known sequence of events is relatively straightforward.
On Sept. 17, 2000, Campbell told several people that he intended to meet someone at Meramec Marina.
The following day, Sept. 18, the 75-year-old went to the marina.
Shortly after arriving, Campbell was shot.
Police found him lying on the main dock.
Campbell survived and was able to describe his attacker.
He subsequently died from his injuries nearly seven weeks later.
Yet the publicly available record leaves some of the most important questions unanswered.
Who was Campbell supposed to meet?
Why was the meeting taking place?
Was the person Campbell intended to meet also the person who shot him?
Why was Campbell shot?
And who was the blond, curly-haired man Campbell described to investigators?
Authorities have not publicly answered those questions.
Sunset Hills police renew appeal for information
Campbell’s homicide returned to public attention in August 2026 when Sunset Hills police renewed their appeal for information.
St. Louis Regional CrimeStoppers published Campbell’s case as an open homicide on Aug. 13.
The renewed appeal came almost 26 years after the shooting.
Investigators said they believe someone may still possess information about Campbell, the person he intended to meet or the individual he described as his attacker.
Police also appealed to potential witnesses or anyone who might recognize the description Campbell gave investigators.
“Someone knows something,” Sunset Hills police said in the renewed appeal, adding that even a detail that appeared insignificant 25 years earlier could potentially provide investigators with information they have been missing.
Time can make a homicide investigation considerably more difficult, but it can also change the willingness of witnesses or people with secondhand information to speak with investigators.
Relationships change. Loyalties change. People who were reluctant to speak decades earlier may no longer have the same reasons for remaining silent.
That appears to be one reason police are putting Campbell’s name and the circumstances of his death before the public again.
What police have not disclosed
There are limits to what can responsibly be reported about Campbell’s homicide based on information currently available to the public.
Police have not publicly announced a motive.
They have not publicly identified a suspect.
They have not publicly identified the person Campbell planned to meet.
They have not publicly established whether that person and Campbell’s attacker were the same individual.
Authorities also have not publicly disclosed in the current appeal what physical or forensic evidence, if any, was recovered during the original investigation.
Without those facts, theories about robbery, financial disputes, personal conflicts, or other possible motives would be speculation.
Likewise, there is no public basis for naming or suggesting any individual as Campbell’s killer.
The facts released by investigators establish that Campbell planned to meet someone, went to the marina, was shot shortly after arriving, survived long enough to describe his attacker, and later died from the injuries.
Beyond that, significant parts of the case remain undisclosed or unknown.
Memory loss complicated the investigation
Campbell’s reported memory problems may have deprived investigators of an especially important lead.
He apparently remembered enough about his plans to have told several people the previous day that he intended to meet someone.
But after being shot, according to police, Campbell could not recall that person’s identity.
That missing name could have been significant regardless of whether the person was involved in the shooting.
If the person Campbell intended to meet was not the shooter, that individual still could potentially have possessed information about Campbell’s reason for being at the marina, his movements, or circumstances surrounding the shooting.
If Campbell’s planned meeting was connected to the shooting, identifying that person could be even more important.
Police have not publicly established either scenario.
That leaves the planned meeting as one of the case’s largest unanswered questions.
Investigators seek memories from September 2000
The renewed investigation is now partly directed toward people who may remember events around Meramec Marina in September 2000.
Someone may remember Campbell.
Someone may remember seeing another person with him.
Someone may recall vehicles or people around the marina.
Others may remember hearing someone discuss Campbell, the shooting, or a planned meeting either before or after Sept. 18, 2000.
Police are particularly interested in information that could identify the person Campbell intended to meet or someone matching Campbell’s description of the shooter.
A person who was approximately 25 years old when the crime occurred would now be approximately 51.
The fact that more than 26 years have passed does not necessarily mean information is useless. Investigators themselves emphasized that a detail considered insignificant at the time could now have value.
No publicly identified killer
As of Sept. 26, 2026, St. Louis Regional CrimeStoppers continues to list Jim Campbell’s death among its open homicide cases.
The Sunset Hills Police Department remains the investigating agency.
The department currently lists Detective Sgt. John Peisker as a member of its investigative staff, and the renewed Campbell appeal directs people with information to him.
No arrest has been publicly announced.
No suspect has been publicly named.
And no publicly available information reviewed for this report establishes a motive for Campbell’s killing.
Those limitations are important in a case this old. Decades of retelling can blur assumptions and speculation with established facts.
The known facts are compelling enough without speculation.
A 75-year-old man told people he planned to meet someone at a marina.
The next day he went there.
Shortly after arriving, he was shot.
He survived long enough to describe the man he said shot him.
But because of memory problems, he couldn’t identify the person he had originally gone there to meet.
Nearly seven weeks later, Campbell died.
More than 26 years after the shooting, police still do not have the answer they are seeking.
Police hope someone finally comes forward
Campbell’s homicide now depends in part on whether someone still remembers something that investigators don’t know.
The renewed appeal is aimed not only at someone who may have witnessed the shooting, but also at anyone who knew Campbell, knew about his planned meeting, or recognizes the description he provided.
Even indirectly learned information could be relevant to investigators.
Anyone with information about the homicide can contact the Sunset Hills Police Department at 314-849-4400. The department’s current directory lists Detective Sgt. John Peisker among its investigative personnel.
You can also submit information anonymously to St. Louis Regional CrimeStoppers at 866-371-TIPS (8477).
For more than a quarter-century, two identities have remained at the center of the mystery surrounding Jim Campbell’s death:
The person he went to Meramec Marina to meet.
And the blond, curly-haired man Campbell said shot him.
Whether those descriptions ultimately lead investigators to the same person or two different people has never been publicly established.
For now, Jim Campbell’s killing remains an open homicide — and Sunset Hills police are hoping someone who remembers what happened in September 2000 can finally provide the information needed to solve it.
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