Murder of Shanda Sharer - Investigation

Investigation

Later on the morning of January 11, two brothers from Canaan, Indiana, were driving toward Jefferson Proving Ground to go hunting when they noticed something on the side of the road. They called the police at 10:55 am and were asked to return to the corpse. The Jefferson County Sheriff, Buck Shippley, and detectives arrived and began an investigation, taking forensic evidence at the scene. They initially suspected a drug deal gone wrong, and could not believe the crime could be the work of locals.

Steve Sharer noticed his daughter missing early on January 11. After calling neighbors and friends all morning, he called his ex-wife, Shanda's mother, at 1:45 pm and the two met and filed a missing person report with the sheriff.

At 8:20 pm, a hysterical Toni Lawrence went to the Jefferson County Sheriff's office with her parents. She gave a rambling statement, identifying the victim as "Shanda", naming the three other girls involved as best she could, and describing the main events of the previous night. Shippley contacted the Clark County sheriff and was finally able to match the victim to Shanda Sharer's missing person's report.

Detective Howard Henry went to the Sharers' house, then obtained dental records that positively identified her as the victim. Loveless and Tackett were arrested on January 12. The bulk of the evidence for the arrest warrant was Lawrence's statement. The prosecution immediately declared its intention to try both as adults. For several months, the prosecutors and defense attorneys did not release any information on the case, leaving the media only the statement by Lawrence, which was repeated in the arrest warrant and contained the general background of the crime.