MS MS - Shondra May, 17, Forest, 4 Feb 1986

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Quill, I am a podcaster and have been working on writing up a story on Shondra's murder for a little over a year. I check here frequently and have sent in a public information request twice for which I have been denied (most probably as this is an active investigation). I am from the southern part of the state, but my podcast is based around murders in Mississippi, both solved and unsolved. I have been captivated by this case since the moment I read Wayne Brown's write-up on the case.

Some things that I have found odd about this are that in my independent studies, there are several women in the state that went missing around the same time. Within the same year and the year after Shondra, women from Ellisville and Petal went missing. Their cars were found with all items still inside. I know that a man was arrested for one of the crimes and the other is still unsolved with no body ever being recovered.

As for your comments on Betty Jones and Katherine Criglar, I think it would be in the best interest of Starkville PD to test the DNA in this case for familial matches--after all, that is exactly how The Golden State Killer was captured this week after more than 40 years!

I believe wholeheartedly that Shondra's murder will be solved. Keep her story seen and heard! As soon as I feel that I have gotten this story covered well enough for a podcast recording, I will let you know.
 
bdmurdersippipod said:
Quill, I am a podcaster and have been working on writing up a story on Shondra's murder for a little over a year. I check here frequently and have sent in a public information request twice for which I have been denied (most probably as this is an active investigation). I am from the southern part of the state, but my podcast is based around murders in Mississippi, both solved and unsolved. I have been captivated by this case since the moment I read Wayne Brown's write-up on the case.

Some things that I have found odd about this are that in my independent studies, there are several women in the state that went missing around the same time. Within the same year and the year after Shondra, women from Ellisville and Petal went missing. Their cars were found with all items still inside. I know that a man was arrested for one of the crimes and the other is still unsolved with no body ever being recovered.

As for your comments on Betty Jones and Katherine Criglar, I think it would be in the best interest of Starkville PD to test the DNA in this case for familial matches--after all, that is exactly how The Golden State Killer was captured this week after more than 40 years!

I believe wholeheartedly that Shondra's murder will be solved. Keep her story seen and heard! As soon as I feel that I have gotten this story covered well enough for a podcast recording, I will let you know.
Click to expand...

I truly hope that you will be able to get that podcast up and running. I believe that if it is kept in the public eye and gets the necessary attention that it will be solved!

I am only about a year older than Shondra and was a freshman in college when this happened. She just seemed so like me and all my friends and we were certainly not used to hearing about such a nightmare as this. It was terrifying to me at that time. I have never forgotten about her and will always pray that her killer is caught.

As far as the case in Starkville, there is a podcast called Knock Knock that one of the victims grandsons are producing. I am currently listening to it. The SPD chief has continually, year after year, run the DNA through CODIS with no luck, but at this time Mississippi state law does not allow for the familial program to be run in CODIS. He is lobbying to change this law. Hopefully Mississippi will soon join the other states who have passed this.

Good luck with your podcast. I will definitely be a listener!
 
trmay626 said:
Yes, there is DNA evidence
Click to expand...
MR. MAY,
FIRST I WANT TO SAY THAT MY HEART GOES OUT TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY FOR SUCH A GREAT LOSS!!!!
I WAS ALMOST 9 YEARS OLD WHEN THE PICTURE OF YOUR SISTER WAS PRINTED IN THE SCOTT COUNTY TIMES WITH THE NEWS OF HER MISSING. THAT DID SOMETHING TO THIS CHILD THAT HAS STUCK WITH ME ALL THESE YEARS. CRIMES LIKE THIS JUST DIDN'T HAPPEN IN A SMALL AREA SUCH AS SCOTT COUNTY BACK THEN. CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG BECAUSE A CHILD'S IMAGINATION CAN RUN WILD AT TIMES BUT I RECALL THERE BEING POSTERS ALL OVER TOWN AND NOT JUST IN FOREST ONLY. DO YOU STILL HAVE ANY OF THESE POSTERS? IF THERE IS DNA EVIDENCE WHY ARE SO MANY OTHER CASES BEING SOLVED THAT HAPPENED 40-50 YEARS AGO BUT THEY CAN'T SEEM TO MATCH THE DNA TO SOLVE THIS CASE? ANOTHER THING THAT HAS TROUBLED ME FOR YEARS IS THAT THERE SEEMS TO BE A GOOD BIT OF EVIDENCE POINTING TO A SUSPECT BY THE NAME OF WM OR MANY KNOW HIM AS WPM. LE HAS EVEN MADE THE STATEMENT THAT HE BECAME VERY ANGRY WHEN THE NEW SHERIFF TOOK OVER AND SAID THAT HE WAS GOING TO DO EVERYTHING IN HIS POWER TO SOLVE THIS CASE!! MANY PEOPLE SUSPECT HIM AND HAVE GOOD REASON TO! HIS FAMILY HAS ALOT OF POWER IN SCOTT COUNTY!!! CAN HE NOT BE BROUGHT BACK IN FOR QUESTIONING AGAIN BASED OFF SOME OF THE EVIDENCE? JUST BECAUSE A PERSON PASSES A LIE DETECTOR TEST DOES NOT MEAN THEY GET A GREEN LIGHT- YOU ARE GOOD TO GO, NOT GUILTY. ONE LAST THING.... ISN'T THERE A WAY FOR AN INDIVIDUAL TO LOOK AT THE EVIDENCE, PHOTOS OF VICTIM, ETC. AFTER A CERTAIN NUMBER OF YEARS WITH CONSENT OF FAMILY? SORRY FOR SO MANY QUESTIONS BUT THIS HAS HAUNTED ME ALL THESE YEARS AND THERE HAS GOT TO BE ONE LITTLE PIECE OF EVIDENCE THAT HAS BEEN OVERLOOKED!!
 
Hi, I was talking with a lady today at a nail salon, told her about my passion for Criminal Justice, we got to talking she had told me about this case, I am from Mississippi I was In Forest today that’s where the nail salon is located, anyway, I came home And I began to do my research. First I want to send my deepest condolences to you and your family. I wasn’t born when this happened so I had Not heard of it. Have there been any developments lately? Sending you and your family love.
trmay626 said:
There were rumors of a van but nothing was ever proven about a van. Her body was found in a creek in Bolton MS (between Vicksburg and Jackson) about 80 miles from her house. She was found in the creek close to a bridge on Champion Hill Road by a single man not a couple of hunters because we paid him a $5000.00 reward for finding Shondra. See, I have a special connection to this case, Shondra is my sister.
Click to expand...
 
Resounding Cry,

Many of your questions about WM I cannot answer mainly because I do not know. I do know he was a suspect at one time but supposedly LE cleared him. If I remember correctly, at the time of Shondra's murder he was working in law enforcement. I would never be upset about anyone being brought back in for questioning or re-examination of the facts or their alibis. There were many "issues" with the investigation of Shondra's murder.
There was DNA taken from my grandmother and compared against evidence found on Shondra's body and it was determined to be or thought to be DNA evidence since it did not match Shondra's (our family) DNA. We were never told what the evidence was, only that they had DNA evidence.
To answer your question about posters, yes there were posters everywhere. We had thousands of them printed and put them everywhere. We did have a couple of cases of the posters left at one time but I'm not sure if we still do. If there any posters left, they would be at my dad's house.
 
I still have hope that this case will be solved by scientific advances in DNA research. Upthread I mentioned the Knock Knock podcast created by a victim's grandsons to solve their grandmother's cold case. Starkville, MS police made an arrest Saturday! He has been walking free since 1990 but today he is in a cage where he belongs. SPD held a press conference earlier today and you can find in on the Starkville, MS Police Dept. Facebook page. There is still hope to solve Shondra's case!

Investigators did some amazing work with the DNA even as far as having a genetic "mugshot" of the suspect made based on the DNA markers. It will be interesting to see how all of that figured in to solving it. Of course, the DNA sample they had to work with was about as good as it gets, so that is an obvious factor. This does give hope, no matter how slim, that this case could be solved one day.

"A man is behind bars and charged with capital murder and sexual battery as the suspect in a cold case that has garnered widespread attention over nearly three decades.
On Saturday night, multiple sources confirmed that investigators with the Starkville Police Department arrested Michael Devaughn on the two felony charges.
The arrest comes after a lengthy and highly-publicized investigation into the death of Betty Jones and the assault of Kathryn Crigler on Labor Day in 1990....

The Starkville Daily News previously reported that technology has offered certain breaks in the case that were unavailable when the crime occurred....

Jones’ step-grandson Jason B. Jones, recently produced a podcast titled “Knock, Knock” looking at the Labor Day cold case that gained a substantial following."

Arrest made in Labor Day cold case | Starkville Daily News

bbm
 
KNOCK KNOCK.
Very lengthy article with pics and video.
Podcast spotlights Mississippi double murder – can new DNA technology solve the cold case?
On Oct. 6, 2018, 28 years after the crime, Betty and Kathryn's suspected attacker was brought in shackles to Starkville, Mississippi.

devaughn-arrest.jpg

On Oct. 6, 2018, 28 years after the crime, Michael DeVaughn was charged with Betty Jones' murder and the rape and sexual battery of Kathryn Crigler. Starkville Police Department
Michael DeVaughn was charged with Betty Jones' murder and the rape and sexual battery of Kathryn Crigler.
 
I just read up about this case and did not know about it before. I pray for justice for the family and Shondra. I would be more than willing to help share information and get this case back in the public eye by sharing with friends, etc. if that is something that would help in any way.
 
trmay626 said:
No there was no damage to the car.
Click to expand...

The reason I ask is because years ago there was an individual who is currently on death row in this state who used to pull up behind and bump his victims car

When they got out to check or exchange info he attacked them , then would abduct rape and then murder the victim.

I’m not saying it’s the same individual possibly the same approach
 
bdmurdersippipod said:
Quill, I am a podcaster and have been working on writing up a story on Shondra's murder for a little over a year. I check here frequently and have sent in a public information request twice for which I have been denied (most probably as this is an active investigation). I am from the southern part of the state, but my podcast is based around murders in Mississippi, both solved and unsolved. I have been captivated by this case since the moment I read Wayne Brown's write-up on the case.

Some things that I have found odd about this are that in my independent studies, there are several women in the state that went missing around the same time. Within the same year and the year after Shondra, women from Ellisville and Petal went missing. Their cars were found with all items still inside. I know that a man was arrested for one of the crimes and the other is still unsolved with no body ever being recovered.

As for your comments on Betty Jones and Katherine Criglar, I think it would be in the best interest of Starkville PD to test the DNA in this case for familial matches--after all, that is exactly how The Golden State Killer was captured this week after more than 40 years!

I believe wholeheartedly that Shondra's murder will be solved. Keep her story seen and heard! As soon as I feel that I have gotten this story covered well enough for a podcast recording, I will let you know.
Click to expand...

I think this recent report about a Podcast may be related to this post:

Podcast spotlights 1990 double murder – can new DNA technology solve the cold case? – Encyclopedic News
 
jaejae said:
I think this recent report about a Podcast may be related to this post:

Podcast spotlights 1990 double murder – can new DNA technology solve the cold case? – Encyclopedic News
Click to expand...

Yes, that is the same case from the podcast I mentioned. I actually attended a live podcast event that Jason and his brother hosted. I was able to ask them some questions and my main one at that time was if they would consider taking on another case. Of course, I would have suggested Shondra if they had said yes. But no, this one was a labor of love for them and extremely emotional so they feel that it was a one time deal for them.

One thing about the Knock Knock case that continues to interest me is the fact that this guy had no DNA on file connected to any other crimes. I wonder if he could have committed this heinous a crime only once or has he just been incredibly smart or lucky not to be detected?? It continues to baffle me.

An arrest was made last week in the Nancy Moyer case from Washington state, though it sounds complicated at this point due to a recanted confession. I am just getting caught up after being out of the country for a couple of weeks so I have only seen headlines at this point. I had been listening to the podcast of her case (Hide and Seek) before I left and was encouraged to see an arrest. I bring it up to make the point I was trying to make in an earlier case: These podcasts do have an affect on stirring up a cold case. So many participants may have gotten comfortable thinking they are in the clear. But a podcast stirs up the cold case like a scent hound's ears stir up a scent trail!

I never knew Shondra. She was girl my age, a lot like me living a county apart with much in common. I have always wanted justice for her. I pray I will see justice done before all is said and done.

Shondra May needs a podcast!
 
Last edited:
dotr said:
KNOCK KNOCK.
Very lengthy article with pics and video.
Podcast spotlights Mississippi double murder – can new DNA technology solve the cold case?
On Oct. 6, 2018, 28 years after the crime, Betty and Kathryn's suspected attacker was brought in shackles to Starkville, Mississippi.

devaughn-arrest.jpg

On Oct. 6, 2018, 28 years after the crime, Michael DeVaughn was charged with Betty Jones' murder and the rape and sexual battery of Kathryn Crigler. Starkville Police Department
Michael DeVaughn was charged with Betty Jones' murder and the rape and sexual battery of Kathryn Crigler.
Click to expand...
How a DNA database helped solve a horrific double murder
 
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