Identified! MO - McDonald Co., 'Grace Doe' Fem Skeletal 784UFMO, 21-31, Dec'90 - Shawna Beth Garber

[Blurgle]

It's unclear how long she was in foster care? That's so sad. Was there no formal plan for her after she reached adulthood? Someone failed this young woman big-time and should answer for it. Just my opinion.

Formal plan? In 1990?!?!

The formal plan would have been "Happy 18th birthday, now get the ___ out, you're entirely on your own from this moment on."

 

[ntt1]

Family Remembers Shawna 'Grace Doe' Garber

Some pretty heartbreaking details about her upbringing in this article.

 

[Mrs. Badcrumble]

The BBC did an article about Shawna, her siblings' hunt for her, and the use of forensic genealogy.

Finding 'Grace': Murder, DNA and ancestry

 

[chaddylex]

The BBC did an article about Shawna, her siblings' hunt for her, and the use of forensic genealogy.

Finding 'Grace': Murder, DNA and ancestry

I was just coming to post this article. I saw it on the Unidentified Wiki FB page. So disturbing.... Breaks my heart. She didn't have an easy life.

 

[Al Ka]

You can listen now to podcast Finding Grace

here - BBC World Service - The Documentary Podcast, Finding Grace

or here - https://player.fm/series/the-documentary-podcast-2502804/finding-grace

 

[LucyOso]

RIP Shawna.

 

[Al Ka]

You can listen now to podcast Finding Grace

here - BBC World Service - The Documentary Podcast, Finding Grace

or here - https://player.fm/series/the-documentary-podcast-2502804/finding-grace

Just to add this approx 25 min documentary is also being shown on UK BBC News channel at various times.

 

[bjhoward]

McDonald County investigators turn to social media to solve a 32-year-old cold case

https://www.fourstateshomepage.com/news/local-news/mcdonald-county-investigators-turn-to-social-media-to-solve-a-32-year-old-cold-case/


“We know around the time she went missing, she lived between Joplin and Coffeyville, Kan.,” said Lt. Michael S. Hall, with the McDonald County Sheriff’s Department.

One of the keys to a digital footprint is following a person’s activities on social networking sites. Those sites were nonexistent in 1990.

Now 30 years Hall hopes to use social media to solicit information about Garber’s life.

“We want to talk to someone who knew her,” Hall said. “We have no photo of her. We cannot find a drivers’ license or anything.”

Hall said Garber’s missing person case file with the Joplin Police Department cannot be located.

“We can’t find the report on microfilm,” Hall said.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

 

[CharlesRedding]

Hi everyone, Shawna was identified in 2021 after being found in 1990. She was assaulted, bound and was amputated to prevent her being ID. Now that she is identified the search for the sicko varmint who did this crime is on. Frankly it really makes me very angry that whoever did this got away with it and given the time frame may very well be alive today. Hopefully not forever. I do wonder what is the progress as women who were victims of what occurred to her the male usually leaves his DNA profile behind and where that occurs always it means it's a solvable case. What are your thoughts?

After 30 years, Grace Doe is Identified

The McDonald County Sheriff’s Office, Othram and SEMO Anthropology Identify Grace Doe as Shawna Beth Garber

dnasolves.com

 

[TwinkieDefense]

August 23, 2023 article

Authorities investigate whether BTK killer was responsible for other killings in Missouri, Oklahoma

Authorities in Oklahoma and Missouri are investigating whether the BTK serial killer was responsible for other homicides, with their search leading them to dig this week near his former Kansas property in Park City.

www.ky3.com

[…]

Upston said another case that is being re-examined is the death of 22-year-old Shawna Beth Garber, whose body was discovered in December 1990 in McDonald County, Missouri. An autopsy revealed she had been raped, strangled and restrained with different bindings about two months before her body was found. Her remains weren’t identified until 2021.

[…]

 

[Springrain]

Dennis Rader BTK is being investigated for Shawna's murder and has been named as prime suspect.

BTK Killer named as 'prime suspect' in at least 2 unsolved cases (MSM article)

Upton said Rader was also the prime suspect in the death of 22-year-old Shawna Beth Garber, whose body was found in McDonald County, Missouri, in December 1990, The Associated Press reported.

Rader, who called himself BTK, standing for, “bind, torture and kill,” was arrested in February 2005. He pleaded guilty in June 2005 to 10 murders from 1974 to 1991 in Wichita and Park City.

Bringing this forward from the Dennis Rader thread - Written by his daughter, Kerri (part about Shawna BBM)

https://twitter.com/KerriRawson

Press Release: August 22, 2023, I became aware that Osage County Sheriff's Office investigators from Oklahoma & Kansas Bureau of Investigation agents, assisted by the Park City Police Department, were at the Park City, KS site where my childhood home originally stood working active investigations into possible missing persons and unsolved murder cases allegedly tied to my father, Dennis Rader, the BTK Serial Killer. These cases predate his arrest on February 25, 2005.

In January 2023, I became aware of the missing person case of Cynthia ‘Cyndi’ Dawn Kinney, a 16-year-old cheerleader who disappeared from a laundromat on June 23, 1976, in Pawhuska, Oklahoma.

In June 2023, I became aware of the unsolved murder case of Shawna Garber, whose remains were found near Pineville, MO, in December 1990. In June 2023, I contacted the McDonald County Sheriff's Office in Missouri to offer my volunteer assistance on the Garber case.

I was quickly connected with the Osage County SO, to which I offered the same aid, and was promptly flown to Osage County, OK, to assist on both cases.

I’ve returned since to the Osage County SO to work in a volunteer capacity as an active agent of LE, assisting on these two cases. Including visiting my father twice at the El Dorado Correctional Facility.

My March 2021 “Do Not Contact Order” was legally lifted via assistance from EDCF, the Kansas Department of Corrections, & the KS Governor’s office. Beyond these two cases that have been released publicly…

I’m not at liberty to discuss other possible missing persons and unsolved murder cases that are being actively investigated as possibly committed by my father, nor can I comment on my direct assistance in the investigations.
Multiple LE agencies are seeking long-sought answers in decades-old missing persons & unsolved murder cases in the tri-state area of KS, MO, & OK. And possibly locations that extend beyond the tri-state area.

This past spring, federal transaction immunity was offered to my father in the tri-state area by a federal district attorney's office to give my father a chance to confess to any other violent crimes he may have committed from roughly 1963-2005 giving decades-long grieving families long-sought answers, and in return, my father would not be charged in these cases. At this time, all avenues of justice remain open, and investigations are ongoing.

I want to thank the following LE partners: Osage County SO, who have embraced me like family; McDonald County SO, Wichita PD, Park City PD, KBI, FBI, EDCF, KDOC the office of the Kansas Governor, and all other local, state and federal partners that are seeking answers and Justice.

I hope that inner agency cooperation continues at a steady pace and that a tri-state or beyond, cold case BTK task force be formed by these agencies to fund and power these vital ongoing tasks

I will continue to partner closely and heartily support all LE agencies and offer my volunteer assistance. Together, daily, we can make a difference. Let’s keep working together to solve these cases for these families. They deserve all that we can give them.

We can join together to put our mark on modern inter-agency cooperation and modern forensics. Kerri Rawson, daughter of Dennis Rader, the BTK Serial Killer

Dennis Rader re: Shawna meeting

Daily Mail snippets:

• 'Through the investigation, we developed information of some possible trophies of Dennis Rader's, and we followed up on those leads,' said Osage County Sheriff Eddie Virden to Fox News.
  
  'We weren't looking for bodies, we were looking for items,' Virden said. 'We did find some items. We can't release what they are.'
• The killer's daughter said the theory from investigators is that Rader may have hidden evidence under his shed in the yard of his home
• She added to Fox News that cops swooped in on her old home this week because 'the theory is he could have placed evidence of cases under stone pavers under the metal shed he built early to mid 90s. Like drivers licenses in jars.'
• When he was quizzed about the disappearance of Shawna Garber, who went missing on Halloween night in 1990, the serial killer said he 'enjoyed' his meeting with investigators.

Source

 

[JennyJukes]

Wow - was BTK ever considered a suspect in this case before? As in, by LE?

Post #4 by Reannan (doesn't let me tag) mentioned that BTK should be looked into as a suspect back in 2011

 

[fred&edna]

So, does this mean BTK actually raped "some" victims? IIRC, LE never stated any of BTK's victims were raped (at least not until now).

 

[Nancy Drew RN]

Kerri Rawson—I can’t imagine being in her position.

So, does this mean BTK actually raped "some" victims? IIRC, LE never stated any of BTK's victims were raped (at least not until now).

I had always assumed they were, but apparently, there was not evidence to that effect. He was linked to a victim because DNA under her nails matched (familially) DNA from his daughter’s pap smear. This article makes the claim that there was never evidence of “traditional” rape, but semen was found at scenes.

But Rader did not rape Fox – indeed, there was no evidence of sexual assault of any of his victims, though semen was sometimes found at the scene. “I was also undressed partially, and got on top of her,” he said. “Then I strangled her with a belt. I took the belt off and replaced them with pantyhose. Then at that time I masturbated. I dressed and took some of her personal belongings and left.”

BTK suspect enters guilty plea, calmly details horrific murders

BTK suspect enters guilty plea, calmly details horrific murders

www.denverpost.com

 

[fred&edna]

Kerri Rawson—I can’t imagine being in her position.


I had always assumed they were, but apparently, there was not evidence to that effect. He was linked to a victim because DNA under her nails matched (familially) DNA from his daughter’s pap smear. This article makes the claim that there was never evidence of “traditional” rape, but semen was found at scenes.

BTK suspect enters guilty plea, calmly details horrific murders

BTK suspect enters guilty plea, calmly details horrific murders

www.denverpost.com

Right, no "traditional" rape but yet semen found at the scene made his assault/murders different... well, at least not exactly typical... and caught my attention.

Terrible situation for Kerri, ITA

 

[sds71]

Serial killer BTK eyed in 1990 Shawna Garber murder

Missouri detective Lori Howard has spent hours speaking with BTK and said she’s always found him to be “very cooperative.”

www.newsnationnow.com

 

[arielilane]

She is no longer Grace Doe, her name was Shawna Beth Garber.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1694779318818218094

 

[Laughing]

Where is our trusty vomit emoji???

Adobe Stock

jmho ymmz lrr

 

[DetectiveDraper]

The only thing throwing me off is the amputation aspect ... Reminds me of LISK. Maybe Loser Dennis decided it was easier to kill in his hometown once he had a family? Hence dismemberment no longer being part of his M.O.