Using Every Available Resource to Solve Crime - The DCC Website

Solving major criminal cases, like murders, rapes and assaults, can be incredibly difficult. Case in point, the recently solved cold case of Lesia Jackson in Montgomery County, Texas. Lesia was murdered in 1979. So it took investigators 43 years to solve it. Why? It took that long for technology to catch up to the problem. They had no way to collect enough touch DNA from her swimsuit and t-shirt until recently.

Contrary to the TV drama crime shows, solving cases rarely happens in 43 minutes. It's a lot harder than that and even when a case is solved quickly, it likely required detectives and their team multiple days of working 16-18 hrs per day to get it done.

As labor intensive and difficult as an active case is (ie, the quadruple murder of 4 University of Idaho students), solving a cold case is infinitely more so. That's why it's cold. The previous investigation efforts had all led to dead ends. All the leads where exhausted. There was nothing else the detectives, CSIs, lab personnel etc could do with the evidence, potential suspects, input from the public, etc etc. The case would just have to be put on the back burner until some new reason emerged that would justify pulling it back to the front and devoting more attention to it.

Enter my friend and cold case expert, Alice de Sturler. Alice is the author of the website Defrosting Cold Cases (https://defrostingcoldcases.com/) - which is a vast resource on cold cases, missing persons, unidentified persons, wrongful convictions, forensics and even book reviews. Alice's website is a resource every criminal investigator should know, love and use on a regular basis.

Despite being an absolute wizard at analyzing cases from a unique perspective, Alice prefers to give credit to others and mostly stay in the background. Here's how she describes herself on her website:

"I am not a law enforcement officer, not an investigative journalist, not part of the Vidocq Society, and not a private investigator. I also do not actively investigate cases. I leave that to the professionals. It is crucial that you understand that.

I am a writer. I analyze old, unsolved cases and raise awareness for those cases as they need renewed media attention.

My background is in law (LL.M.), non-practicing, former law faculty at two major US state universities, and a member of the American Society of Criminology (ASC) and associate member of the American Bar Association (ABA)."

Yeah, far too humble of a description in my opinion, but that's the way she prefers it so who am I to question right?

Just to show you some of her work, I have copied and pasted one of her recent cases. Here's the link: https://defrostingcoldcases.com/missing-shannon-marie-sherrill/

Missing: Shannon Marie Sherrill

June 22, 2019 By Alice

UPDATE:?

I spoke to Chief Frank Clark from the Thorntown Police Department. He corrected the area code in the contact information. He also assured me that Shannon’s is an active case. It is still being investigated. All tips are checked and added to Shannon’s file. Her case number is 86-143. If you have any information at all, please contact authorities. Do not dismiss a small detail. It just might be that piece that pulls the puzzle together.

Introduction

Shannon Marie Sherrill (Aug 12, 1980 – missing Oct 15, 1986) was six years old when she vanished. She was last seen at her family’s trailer home yard on 600 Plum Street, Thorntown, Indiana, on October 15, 1986.

Around 130pm, she was outside with about ten other children. They were playing hide-and-seek. Shannon went missing while she was behind the trailer. Nobody saw her leave the yard. Nobody heard anything or saw anything.

Shannon lived in the trailer with mom Dorothy and younger brother David. She went to kindergarten at Thorntown Elementary School. Her parents are divorced and father Mike Sherrill lives in Tipton, Indiana.

Both mom and dad passed polygraph tests, are not considered suspects in this case, and have given their DNA for comparison in databases.

Case

The authorities consider this a non-family abduction. Police used K9 units. The bloodhounds did catch Shannon’s scent and followed it to a nearby cornfield and a cemetery. Unfortunately, then they lost her trail.

When Shannon went missing we didn’t have Amber Alerts, social media, no DNA testing, and officers had less well-developed training in child abduction cases than they do now. There are discussions in the public domain whether police did all they could and whether all they did was done fast enough. Should they have gotten other agencies involved? Should they have gone national with what they knew? In hindsight, it is easy to judge but absent evidence of neglect or incompetence we should give them the benefit of the doubt.

Suspects

David Elliot Penton, a convicted child murderer, was briefly considered a suspect. He stopped cooperating with police. He has made the claim to “tell all” before he dies though. He was never charged in Shannon’s case. Just do a quick internet search and you will find a lot of information.

Dorothy on Penton

In the public domain are many articles that show you that Dorothy suffered immensely after Shannon disappeared. Her behaviour is clearly rooted in desperation, grief, and survivor-guilt. She has made remarks that are at face value strange such as “Shannon was more than likely alive for three days.”

She made this remark on the possible involvement of Penton. This “serial pedophile kidnapped her” and “drove her to Texas where he would do what he would do.” She may just have mulled over what could have happened and her statement should not be seen as evidence that she was somehow involved.

There is no evidence that Shannon was taken away by car. Nobody mentioned hearing or seeing a car near the yard. As Penton was never charged and the last articles about a possible connection date back to 2007 I am dismissing him (for now) as a person of interest in Shannon’s disappearance.

Set-backs

In July 2003, a woman named Donna Lynette Walker contacted the Sherrill family pretending to be Shannon. She called, emailed, and even sent them pictures.

Walker ended up being charged with a dozen felony counts of identity deception and false informing.

She pleaded guilty but mentally ill to the charges in April 2004.

She received a sentence of 18 months in prison for attempted identity deception and misdemeanor false reporting. Ten other charges against her were dropped. Walker served just nine months in prison before she was released on probation.

Identification

Shannon is white, was 3 feet high when she vanished and was about 30 lbs. She has brown hair with blue eyes. She has a four-inch scar (surgery, accident?) on her abdomen and her ears are pierced. At the time that she went missing she was an extremely shy child. She was wearing a white sundress with a blue trim. No socks and no shoes.

Note: considering that Shannon was petite for her age there is a chance she is buried somewhere and listed as unidentified in a category that fits her height/weight versus age.

Contact Information

If you have any information about this case please contact the Thorntown Police Department at 765-436-7677. You can ask for Chief Frank Clark. Shannon’s case number is 86-143.

As an investigator, if that doesn't give you reason to visit Alice's website and even contact her to help with a cold case I don't know what would. She's brilliant and by bringing her in to help you will in turn look like a genius for marshaling whatever resource you needed to solve your case.