MI MI - Brittany Shank, 23, Sturgis, St. Joseph County, 30 Nov 2018

New Posts

CastlesBurning said:
Woman still missing 4 years after car found crashed off road near Sturgis, Michigan

STURGIS, Mich. – Four years ago, a 23-year-old woman’s vehicle was found off the road near Sturgis, Michigan, but she had vanished.

Brittany Nichole Shank was last seen at 9:30 p.m. on Nov. 30, 2018, in the 33000 block of Fawn River Road, just east of Sturgis.

Her mother said she had gone to her grandmother’s to do laundry and crashed on the way home. Her car was located with only minor damage, but she has never been found.

She has piercings on her eyebrow, tongue, nose and lip. Her tattoos include “Kayden” on her upper right chest, a butterfly on the small of her back, “Zak” on her wrist, initials on her other wrist, a sugar skull on her right thigh and “Owen Conner Spahr” down her right leg. She was last seen wearing a green coat and jeans.

Michigan State Police have taken over Shank’s case.
Click to expand...
1
inmyhumbleopinion said:
Brittany’s NamUs profile (I don’t believe it has been posted yet):

Missing Person / NamUs #MP56494
Brittany Nichole Shank, Female, White / Caucasian
[SBM]

Case Information
Demographics
[SBM]

Height: 5' 1" (61 Inches)
Weight: 110 lbs
[SBM]

Circumstances
Date of Last Contact: November 30, 2018
NamUs Case Created: April 4, 2019

Last Known Location Map
Location: Sturgis, Michigan 49091
County: St. Joseph County

Circumstances of Disappearance: Was seen around 9:30 p.m. Nov. 30 in the 33000 block of Fawn River Road in Sturgis after her vehicle went off the road.

Physical Description
Hair Color: Brown
Left Eye Color: Hazel
Right Eye Color: Hazel

Distinctive Physical Features
Item: Piercing
Description: Brittany has eyebrow, tongue, nose and labret (lip) piercings.

Item: Tattoo
Description: Brittany's tattoo's include "Kayden" on her upper right chest, butterfly on the small of her back, "Zak" on her wrist, initials on her other wrist, a sugar skull on her right thigh and "Owen Conner Spahr" down her right leg.

Clothing and Accessories
Item: Clothing
Description: Last seen wearing a green coat and jeans

0 Unidentified Person Exclusions

Contacts
Investigating Agencies
Main Phone: (269) 467-9045
Agency Case Number: 75-8112-18
Date Reported: December 9, 2018
Chad Spence, D/Sgt.

Michigan State Police
Main Phone(269) 558-0500
Agency Case Number: 54-537-19
Todd Petersen, D/Sgt.
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
View attachment 213866
Click to expand...
I reached out to NAMUS here's one of my reports. We now have Brittany's actual DNA being ran through the databases!

NAMUS
Amy Jenkinson
Regional Program Specialist (Region 5)
Contractor Supporting OJP/NIJ
Phone: 817-304-8873
Email: ajenkinson@rti.org

Inquiring about two profiles listed within NamUs Database one is a unidentified female in the state of Alabama profile NamUs #UP65570 and one as a missing person out of state of Michigan full name Brittany Nichole Shank (Wallace,Piersing) Brittany Profile
NamUs #MP56494.

There is suspicion that the two profiles could possibly be a match. Reason to be why and questioned missing person NamUs #MP56494 family/sibling lives within 2 hours but no more then 3 hours of burnt unidentified NamUs #UP65570 NamUs #MP56494 has been said that she was burned and dumped.

Contact has been made with Amy Jenkinson with NamUs reporting this suspension. NamUs profile #MP56494 has very little information to go off of when victim is unidentifiable leading to needing DNA to confirm a match within some profiles in the NamUs database. This lead me to contact the Lagrange County Indiana Sheriff Department, Tracy Harker whom is the under sheriff as well as the Sheriff of LaGrange county Indiana Sheriff department whom is Jefferey A. Campos. NamUs profile #MP56494 was was booked in the LaGrange County Indiana jail on the date of 2/5/17. She was facing criminal felony charges which would consist of finger prints being obtained during booking her into the jail as well as give a DNA sample due to it being facing felony charges being booked in on.

Reply from Sheriff Campos with Lagrange County Indiana Sheriff Department, Yes she was incarcerated her a couple of times. I understand that you were hoping to find something with DNA on it such as a fingerprint card or oral swab. We do not use ink fingerprint card there for there will not be any DNA on the cards that we have they are just a copy of the digital fingerprint card sent electronically sent AFIS. As far as the DNA Swab, those are not kept here, they are picked up by DOC.

This lead me to contact Indiana State Police Laboratory which is AFIS also DNA which lead me to DNA profiles generated from missing persons can be searched in CODIS (Combined DNA Index System), a national DNA database used to generate investigative leads. So I go to CODIS database and file a form requesting sample status to be sent to
Amy Jenkinson the supervisor within The database of NamUs so she is able to identify profiles #MP56494 and #UP65570 to see if there possibly could be a positive match between the unidentified and missing person. You can find the form here

Request for Federal DNA Database Unit (FDDU) / Federal Convicted Offender (FCO) Sample Status

You should be able to copy and paste it’s self explanatory really. I’ve not been able to get through to anyone within the Indiana state police labs number listed below along with emails to contact. I feel I have done every step I possibly can to attempt to get Brittany actual DNA and finger prints sent to Amy. They even may have already done so and are in the process of checking. I can’t answer a for sure yes or no on this though. Possibly we can all fill the form out or maybe someone else knows a faster way or better resource they can use to get the answers we all are waiting patiently for. I apologize I’m lost for what step to take next.
Valurie Kaye Mettler

Fort Wayne Regional Laboratory
5811 Ellison Road Ft. Wayne, IN 46804
260-436-7522
800-552-0976
Lab Manager: Stacey Hartman
Email Stacey Hartman
SHartman@isp.in.gov

Indianapolis Regional Laboratory
550 West 16th Street, Suite C
Indianapolis, IN 46202
317-921-5300
866-855-2840
Lab Manager: Andrew Koeling
Email Andrew Koeling
AKoeling@isp.in.gov
 
Prudewhite said:
1

I reached out to NAMUS here's one of my reports. We now have Brittany's actual DNA being ran through the databases!

NAMUS
Amy Jenkinson
Regional Program Specialist (Region 5)
Contractor Supporting OJP/NIJ
Phone: 817-304-8873
Email: ajenkinson@rti.org

Inquiring about two profiles listed within NamUs Database one is a unidentified female in the state of Alabama profile NamUs #UP65570 and one as a missing person out of state of Michigan full name Brittany Nichole Shank (Wallace,Piersing) Brittany Profile
NamUs #MP56494.

There is suspicion that the two profiles could possibly be a match. Reason to be why and questioned missing person NamUs #MP56494 family/sibling lives within 2 hours but no more then 3 hours of burnt unidentified NamUs #UP65570 NamUs #MP56494 has been said that she was burned and dumped.

Contact has been made with Amy Jenkinson with NamUs reporting this suspension. NamUs profile #MP56494 has very little information to go off of when victim is unidentifiable leading to needing DNA to confirm a match within some profiles in the NamUs database. This lead me to contact the Lagrange County Indiana Sheriff Department, Tracy Harker whom is the under sheriff as well as the Sheriff of LaGrange county Indiana Sheriff department whom is Jefferey A. Campos. NamUs profile #MP56494 was was booked in the LaGrange County Indiana jail on the date of 2/5/17. She was facing criminal felony charges which would consist of finger prints being obtained during booking her into the jail as well as give a DNA sample due to it being facing felony charges being booked in on.

Reply from Sheriff Campos with Lagrange County Indiana Sheriff Department, Yes she was incarcerated her a couple of times. I understand that you were hoping to find something with DNA on it such as a fingerprint card or oral swab. We do not use ink fingerprint card there for there will not be any DNA on the cards that we have they are just a copy of the digital fingerprint card sent electronically sent AFIS. As far as the DNA Swab, those are not kept here, they are picked up by DOC.

This lead me to contact Indiana State Police Laboratory which is AFIS also DNA which lead me to DNA profiles generated from missing persons can be searched in CODIS (Combined DNA Index System), a national DNA database used to generate investigative leads. So I go to CODIS database and file a form requesting sample status to be sent to
Amy Jenkinson the supervisor within The database of NamUs so she is able to identify profiles #MP56494 and #UP65570 to see if there possibly could be a positive match between the unidentified and missing person. You can find the form here

Request for Federal DNA Database Unit (FDDU) / Federal Convicted Offender (FCO) Sample Status

You should be able to copy and paste it’s self explanatory really. I’ve not been able to get through to anyone within the Indiana state police labs number listed below along with emails to contact. I feel I have done every step I possibly can to attempt to get Brittany actual DNA and finger prints sent to Amy. They even may have already done so and are in the process of checking. I can’t answer a for sure yes or no on this though. Possibly we can all fill the form out or maybe someone else knows a faster way or better resource they can use to get the answers we all are waiting patiently for. I apologize I’m lost for what step to take next.
Valurie Kaye Mettler

Fort Wayne Regional Laboratory
5811 Ellison Road Ft. Wayne, IN 46804
260-436-7522
800-552-0976
Lab Manager: Stacey Hartman
Email Stacey Hartman
SHartman@isp.in.gov

Indianapolis Regional Laboratory
550 West 16th Street, Suite C
Indianapolis, IN 46202
317-921-5300
866-855-2840
Lab Manager: Andrew Koeling
Email Andrew Koeling
AKoeling@isp.in.gov
Click to expand...
Thank you for the update; that's great news that they have her DNA!
 
I listen to the Hide and Seek podcast and follow the FB group. I really hope they find out what happened to her. So many different people could be responsible for her disappearance. It's crazy.
 

Woman still missing four years after vanishing near Sturgis​

It's been four years since a St. Joseph County woman mysteriously vanished after crashing into a ditch outside Sturgis.

Around 1,500 missing posters for Brittany Shank, or Brittany Wallace were printed to be handed out across St. Joseph County Wednesday.

"I feel I can awake from this nightmare any day but it just hasn't happened yet," Wallace's mother Jessica Rolfe said.

The 23-year-old mother was last seen in the area of Fawn River Road near Workman Road in Fawn River Township around 9 p.m. Nov. 30, 2018, according to the St. Joseph County Sheriff's Office.


Wallace emerged from a minor car wreck bloodied without a coat or socks when she used a neighbor's phone to call 911 before she was last seen, according to investigators.

The area is approximately seven miles east of downtown Sturgis.

Michigan State Police launched a task force to investigate Wallace's disappearance before it handed the case of to the St. Joseph County Sheriff's Office.

Deputies have searched for Wallace in wooded areas near the crash scene on numerous occasions, including in recent months, according to St. Joseph County Sheriff's Office Det. Sgt. Jason Auton.

No evidence has emerged to indicate Wallace was killed by anyone, according to investigators.

Wallace's family has believed someone was responsible for her disappearance and possible death.

"I think it was people relatively close to her that she knew about," Rolfe said.
Wallace's disappearance has gained national attention following the release of season 3 of the true crime podcast series, "Hide and Seek."

Season 3 launched in April, features 24 episodes on Wallace's disappearance and includes interviews from over 200 people, according to Baysinger.

"I continue to build new episodes while we're investigating and get new leads," Hide and Seek creator James Baysinger said. "It's a very messy case, but we've spent the hours trying to untangle this and we're looking forward to sharing more."
Baysinger and a team of his podcast researchers have shared information with detectives who have been working on the case, he said.

"Someone who is calling 911 isn’t looking to run away. She's leaving the scene for a reason." Baysinger said. As we dig into Brittany's case, we begin to find out the reasons why."

Detectives interviewed over 100 people connected to Wallace and have chased down many rumors that never panned out, according to Auton.

Rolfe said she believes the spotlight on her daughter's case will lead to answers she's searched for.

"Awareness of this is crucial to keep her face in the public," Rolfe said.

Investigators haven't ruled out that Wallace may have succumbed to the conditions in the wooded area near the crash scene, according to detectives.

Anyone with information can contact the St. Joseph County Sheriff's Office at 269-467-9045.
 
chaddylex said:
I listen to the Hide and Seek podcast and follow the FB group. I really hope they find out what happened to her. So many different people could be responsible for her disappearance. It's crazy.
Click to expand...
I was following the podcast but fell behind; now I'm hopelessly lost. Has R Porter been discussed yet? He is the one who was named in the Kimberly Dyer murder in Elkhart Co. as being someone who was questioned in Britt's disappearance.
 
FrostedGlass said:
I was following the podcast but fell behind; now I'm hopelessly lost. Has R Porter been discussed yet? He is the one who was named in the Kimberly Dyer murder in Elkhart Co. as being someone who was questioned in Britt's disappearance.
Click to expand...
I don't believe so, but I could be wrong. So many people have been named, it confuses me, but I don't recall that name.
 
Due to the publicity generated by the 4th anniversary and the ongoing podcast, I just recently became aware of the case. Being in SW MI, it caught my attention. I find the podcast disingenuous because from the very outset, he ignores the easiest and most likely scenario, by peddling conspiracy theories and running circles around stories told by junkies. Like it or not, the girl was high, fleeing an accident scene (minor as it was), has a felony arrest warrant and not dressed for the weather conditions (no shoes or coat). In 32 degree weather, NOBODY is going to last very long running barefoot and no jacket. The most likely outcome is that she died from exposure and hasn't been found yet. Whether or not if the podcast is making an honest effort to sort out all the shady characters that surrounded Brittney's life, it wouldn't get good ratings if he actually investigated the most realistic outcome. I think time would be much better spent doing ground searches in a 1 mile radius of the crash site. If she reached the river and got wet, she would die of hypothermia very quickly.

To that end, does anyone know EXACTLY where the crash site was?
 
sbcjester21 said:
Due to the publicity generated by the 4th anniversary and the ongoing podcast, I just recently became aware of the case. Being in SW MI, it caught my attention. I find the podcast disingenuous because from the very outset, he ignores the easiest and most likely scenario, by peddling conspiracy theories and running circles around stories told by junkies. Like it or not, the girl was high, fleeing an accident scene (minor as it was), has a felony arrest warrant and not dressed for the weather conditions (no shoes or coat). In 32 degree weather, NOBODY is going to last very long running barefoot and no jacket. The most likely outcome is that she died from exposure and hasn't been found yet. Whether or not if the podcast is making an honest effort to sort out all the shady characters that surrounded Brittney's life, it wouldn't get good ratings if he actually investigated the most realistic outcome. I think time would be much better spent doing ground searches in a 1 mile radius of the crash site. If she reached the river and got wet, she would die of hypothermia very quickly.

To that end, does anyone know EXACTLY where the crash site was?
Click to expand...
Most of what you say is accurate but I disagree that he ignored the possibility of her dying from exposure. It would be really odd if that area hasn't been searched multiple times by LE, friends, family, homeowners, etc. If you look at it on the map, it's pretty open with a couple of wooded areas.

I believe it happened where Watt Road meets Fawn River Road. That is based on the direction she was said to have taken when she left grandma's house.
 
sbcjester21 said:
Due to the publicity generated by the 4th anniversary and the ongoing podcast, I just recently became aware of the case. Being in SW MI, it caught my attention. I find the podcast disingenuous because from the very outset, he ignores the easiest and most likely scenario, by peddling conspiracy theories and running circles around stories told by junkies. Like it or not, the girl was high, fleeing an accident scene (minor as it was), has a felony arrest warrant and not dressed for the weather conditions (no shoes or coat). In 32 degree weather, NOBODY is going to last very long running barefoot and no jacket. The most likely outcome is that she died from exposure and hasn't been found yet. Whether or not if the podcast is making an honest effort to sort out all the shady characters that surrounded Brittney's life, it wouldn't get good ratings if he actually investigated the most realistic outcome. I think time would be much better spent doing ground searches in a 1 mile radius of the crash site. If she reached the river and got wet, she would die of hypothermia very quickly.

To that end, does anyone know EXACTLY where the crash site was?
Click to expand...

This is from my notes - do not know if this will help. Re my bold/red

Brittany was last seen near the 33000 block of Fawn River Road on Nov. 30, 2018 at approximately 9:40 p.m. She was last seen with a white male, approximately mid-20s in age & 5-foot-6 to 5-foot-8 in height with short blonde hair & mutton chop-style sideburns. Reported missing by her mother on 12/7/18. She went off the road down Fawn River Road after she did laundry at grandmother’s house one night, and she went around a curb & the car went off the road. Nobody has seen her since,” says Rolfe. Right after the accident, residents living along Fawn River Road say they saw Shank asking for help. Jessica Rolfe (Brittany's mother). “She went to a couple houses & knocked on the doors. [She] knocked on one door, was seen at the window at another house, that’s the last time anybody has seen her,” said Rolfe. One resident tried to help, but couldn’t get cell service to call 9-1-1, and said Shank disappeared before they could try again.
 
I also believe people have been looking for her body in around that area, even long before the podcast started airing.
The latest episode of the podcast was about the boyfriend at the time (whose car Brittany had and wrecked) - they read FB messages between him and Brittany (before her disappearance) along with conversations with others regarding her disappearance. I believe he truly cared for her and had nothing to do with her disappearance.

It is sad that she lived in the drug world, nothing good ever comes from it.
 
FrostedGlass said:
Most of what you say is accurate but I disagree that he ignored the possibility of her dying from exposure. It would be really odd if that area hasn't been searched multiple times by LE, friends, family, homeowners, etc. If you look at it on the map, it's pretty open with a couple of wooded areas.

I believe it happened where Watt Road meets Fawn River Road. That is based on the direction she was said to have taken when she left grandma's house.
Click to expand...
If you draw a line from the crash site to the house where 911 was called from, you can draw an arc in the same direction of travel and she's probably within a 1/2 mile of that. I would think it unlikely she'd double-back to the car, since she was clearly trying to evade police (high, warrant, drug possession) so it stands to reason she'd continue in the general direction she was already going. Find the closest wooded area and search near a river, and she'll be found in short order. (IMO)
 
FrostedGlass said:
I was following the podcast but fell behind; now I'm hopelessly lost. Has R Porter been discussed yet? He is the one who was named in the Kimberly Dyer murder in Elkhart Co. as being someone who was questioned in Britt's disappearance.
Click to expand...
Ask and you shall receive. Check out the most recent episode, they interview him. I didn’t get an exact time stamp but it starts 20-25min into the episode.

I knew vaguely who RP was but had no idea he was actually connected to people in this case, but apparently he is. I doubt he was involved though.
 
dub said:
Ask and you shall receive. Check out the most recent episode, they interview him. I didn’t get an exact time stamp but it starts 20-25min into the episode.

I knew vaguely who RP was but had no idea he was actually connected to people in this case, but apparently he is. I doubt he was involved though.
Click to expand...
Thank you. I've been patiently waiting for that. He jumps back and forth from IN to MI for his criminal activities. He's currently sitting in MI and due back in IN March.
 
@Niner
Season 3, Eps 29 You're Fired
This is the episode that aired yesterday and James had already covered Porter in the episode the week before. In this one, he did a brief summary of that interview. He has removed Porter from his list of suspects in Britt's case. He said that even though Porter and Britt were FB friends, they didn't find any type of communication between them. Also, Britt had apparently gone beyond using weed to using meth and Porter was a weed dealer.

What I found interesting was James' statements about Mario's defense attorney. He claimed M's council never cross-examed Porter in Kim's proceedings and wondered if it was a defense strategy to make it seem as though Porter was the one who actually killed Kim. Then James asked: "Why go silent at trial when you have the opportunity to ask questions?"

Season 3 Eps, 28 The Case File Episodes
However, in the prior episode, James gave that very explanation as to why M's council couldn't go there.
23mm: April13, 2021: the state filed a motion in limine that sought to limit Angulo's cross exam of Porter at trial. Based on questions Angulo's council had asked Porter in a deposition about a missing person's case of someone named B Shank, it anticipated that Angulo would cross exam Porter about that topic. The state alleged that Porter's testimony about Shank would be irrelevant and inadmissible and that such evidence would only serve to inflame the passions of the jury and leave a mis-impression with them.

I can say that I believe M's Attorney Dixon did everything he could possibly have done to enter into that line of questioning Porter. Porter had been incarcerated in Michigan and apparently liked to talk a lot. Dixon was not able to get any of those discussions entered into record. He did have one person who was willing to testify as to what Porter told him but when he found out they were showing his face on a live stream, he backed out. I thought that was interesting because there was only audio, no visual, of the witnesses for the prosecution.

I'm going to talk about Porter after I go through my notes later. Here's a link to the podcasts:
podcasts.apple.com

Hide and Seek on Apple Podcasts

True Crime · 2024
podcasts.apple.com
 
@Niner
Episode 28, where James has his inter view with RP.
I guess RP didn't think anyone listened to the Dyer trial or read the appeals of the 2 guys who were found guilty. He claimed he was tortured for 3 days. He was free to come and go for a lot of the time he was there, according to court records. In fact, he went back to MI to get more weed because they smoked up the 2 pounds that he brought on his first trip down. I didn't ever hear what happened with the other 2+ lbs he brought back the second time.

All I ever heard during the trial was he was robbed of his jewelry, which was disputed. What he should have told James is he was beaten and humiliated because the group at the house believed Kim when she said he raped her.

When RP said he did what he did for Kimberly, for her mom and her kids, I took that to mean why he testified for the State. I think the reason he testified was 100% self-serving.

One thing I've pondered about this case was exactly how he got connected to the Old Orchard house. James bleeped out names but from knowing who took RP home from the party and who that person's house girlfriend was, the answer is right there.

The snitch book discussion was interesting in that the name said by RP was not the name that was said in court. Was he trying to throw his named person under the bus? or did he truly not know who the book belonged to?
 
www.sturgisjournal.com

Centreville rally planned for missing area woman

Organizers said they are looking to keep Shank in residents' minds, hoping that someone will come forward with information that will lead to her whereabouts.
www.sturgisjournal.com

CENTREVILLE — A rally to raise awareness about a missing Sturgis-area woman is being planned for Saturday, March 11, in Centreville.

Brittany Wallace Shank has been missing from the Burr Oak/Sturgis area since Nov. 30, 2018. She was 23 years old at the time of her disappearance.

What happened to her is one of many questions her family, and organizers of the rally, would like to see answered.

The "Justice for Brittany" rally is set for 10 a.m. in front of the St. Joseph County Sheriff's Department at 650 E. Main St. Organizers said guest speakers are being confirmed and statements are being prepared as independent investigations are said to have uncovered new leads and evidence.

Continues at link
 
Shank, now 28, had went to a neighbor's house asking to call 911 after she got into a car crash Nov. 30, 2018.
1701388463486.jpeg
Last seen without socks or a coat, Shanks went missing near Fawn River Road and Workman Road around 9 p.m.

Half a decade later, the case is still open.

Detectives said they've searched multiple locations across Michigan and Indiana, with the help of search groups, cadaver dogs and drones.

However, a suspect has not been arrested in connection to the case, according to the family.
wwmt.com

Community 'lights up the night' to bring awareness to Brittany Shank disappearance

Thursday marks five years since Brittany Shank went missing in Sturgis.
wwmt.com wwmt.com
 
It's the largest case the students have seen up to this point, according to the sheriff's office, with more than 1,072 people mentioned within the case file.

The program received the case in January of this year, according to deputies.

The 23-year-old showed up to a neighbor's home asking to call 911 after she got in a car wreck, investigators said. She wasn't wearing socks or a coat.

"Five full years without a single solid lead," her brother, Victor Carter, said. "The first few years were really tough. It was always like, "Oh is she coming back? Are they going to find her?"

"We’re just always suffering because you don’t know what happened and your mind just wanders," Went said. "I know that police are doing what they can but without us seeing any progress and stuff it doesn’t feel like we’re getting a whole lot of movement in the case and whatnot."
wwmt.com

Siblings of missing Sturgis woman encourage law enforcement to consider her case a homicide

The search for a missing Sturgis mother is still ongoing, five years later.On Thursday, investigators with the St. Joseph County Sheriff's Office said Brittany
wwmt.com wwmt.com
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

DNASolves

Who is Escambia County John Doe (1989)?

Members online

... and 76 more.
Total: 1,330 (members: 77, guests: 1,253)

Online statistics

Members online
77
Guests online
1,253
Total visitors
1,330
Totals may include hidden visitors.

Forum statistics

Threads
591,789
Messages
17,958,890
Members
228,607
Latest member
wdavewong
Back
Top