The views and opinions expressed in Cold and
Missing are exclusively those of the hosts. All
parties mentioned are considered innocent until
proven guilty in a court of law. Cold and Missing
also contains adult themes and languages. Listener
discretion is advised. I'm your host, Ali McLaughlin
-Solkowski. And I'm your co -host, Eli Solkowski.
And this is Cold and Missing, where we cover
cold cases and missing person cases. Hello, everyone,
and welcome back to Cold and Missing. I'm your
host, Allie. And I'm your co -host, Eli. Yes,
Eli is back this week. We are back as a duo and
ready to bring you a regularly scheduled podcast.
No taking a week off this week. We are here.
That's right. We know. Life lobs difficulties
at us every once in a while, so we really appreciate
those of you who continue to stick with us and
come back every week to listen. If you're new
here, we have a huge backlog of episodes for
you to go and listen to, so please catch up on
those. But for this week, we are on a cold case.
Yes, we are on episode 137, and we are covering
a cold case, the cold case of Shana Jaros. All
right, let's get into it. Today, we are talking
about the cold case of Shana Jaros, and this
takes place in November of 1995 in Nokomis, Illinois.
But first, a little bit about Shana. Shana Jaros
is just 18 years old in 1995. That spring, she
had graduated from high school, and she was stepping
into adulthood and independence. She had just
moved into her first apartment. a small building
with six units on South Maple Street in Nokomis,
Illinois. She shared the space with a roommate,
Tanya, who was close to her in age. Nokomis,
Illinois is a quiet, close -knit community in
central Illinois. The population is around 2
,700 people. Shana worked at Golden Manor Nursing
Home, a job she had held since she was 16 years
old. She was a certified nurse's aide. and she
was known for her ability to connect with people,
especially the elderly. She had a goal of becoming
a nurse one day, and she wanted to either work
with children or the elderly because she enjoyed
both of them so much. Friends described Shana
as someone who could get along with anybody,
kind -hearted, loving. She loved the Miami Dolphins,
music, and spending time with her family. Shana
was the oldest of four siblings. She was also
six foot tall by the time she had graduated high
school. Her height made her an easy target for
bullying. But despite this, Shana remained kind
-hearted. After graduation, she began hanging
out with a new crowd of friends, people who readily
accepted her. Her younger sister was a little
weary of them. She thought they might be a bad
influence. Shana had a new boyfriend, according
to reports. And she had just moved into her new
apartment. She was starting her life. And now,
a timeline of events. Tuesday, October 31st,
1995. On Halloween, Shana spent the evening trick
-or -treating with her friend Kim and Kim's daughter.
Kim lived across the street and also worked with
Shana at the nursing home. They were really close.
Shana's younger brother came to visit and join
in on the trick -or -treating. When their father,
Dwayne, picked him up later that night, he remembered
Shana wearing a blue housecoat as she walked
her brother out. That evening on Halloween, Shana
hosted a small housewarming and Halloween party.
It wasn't a big gathering, just four people.
Shana, her roommate, Tanya Gilmore, Tanya's boyfriend,
Jason Carver, and the next -door neighbor, Billy
Malloy. They spent the night playing cards, laughing,
and celebrating until around midnight, according
to her friends. The next day, Wednesday, November
1st, 1995, at around 6 .50 a .m., Shana's landlord
was leaving her apartment and she noticed that
Shana's apartment door was left ajar. She thought
it was weird, so she called out, but nobody answered.
Her landlord decided to go inside and make sure
everything was okay. When she entered the apartment,
she made the horrific discovery. She found Shana
dead. She immediately backed up and called police.
Authorities arrived quickly. It was the first
murder the local department had seen in 25 years.
Police quickly start processing the scene. Lots
of evidence is taken from the house, and finally,
Shana's body is removed around 1 in the afternoon
and sent for an autopsy. Investigators noted
that there was no sign of forced entry at the
apartment, leading them to believe that Shana
likely knew her killer. Police also interviewed
neighbors at this time. One neighbor told police
that they heard a scuffle coming from Shana's
apartment around 4 .46 a .m., but they didn't
see anyone leaving the apartment after this.
By evening, Sheriff Jim Vassie told the press
that there were no suspects at this time and
they were still busy interviewing those who were
close to Shana. On Thursday, November 2, 1995,
Shana's autopsy is done. It confirms that Shana
had been stabbed multiple times, but police don't
release any more details about that at this time.
They do say, however, that Shana died from massive
blood loss. They also say that she was primarily
stabbed in her upper chest and neck area. It
is believed that she died in the early morning
hours of November 1st, but they aren't specific
about the time. Based off of family comments,
I do believe that the time is somewhere between
4, 5 in the morning. We know that toxicology
reports are done and it takes weeks for them
to come back, but police never release the results
of those toxicology reports. Shana's family and
the small town of Nokomis were shattered by this
murder. Like I mentioned earlier, Shana's was
the first murder in 25 years for this community,
so everyone was shocked by it. Her cousin later
said, quote, On Saturday, November 4th, 1995,
only three days after her murder, Shana's late
to rest just blocks away from her apartment.
Police still haven't identified a suspect or
located the murder weapon. But a week after the
murder, police say that they don't have any leads.
As winter sets in, Shana's case gets cold. In
January of 1996, two months after the murder,
An inquest into Shana's death was held in Hillsboro.
It confirmed what the autopsy had already told
us, that she died from massive blood loss due
to multiple stab wounds in her neck and chest
area. In June of 1996, so this is seven months
after the murder, there were no arrests and little
progress that was made public. Shana's family
held a candlelight vigil to honor her and to
bring awareness to her case and other victims
of violent crime. Frustration grew in the community
as the case appeared to stall. In October of
1996, as we approach the one -year anniversary
of Shana's murder, yellow ribbons still appeared
all throughout Nokomis. They had been hung up
shortly after she was murdered to bring awareness
to her case, and many businesses, houses, had
just left them up. Shana's father, Duane, said,
Police say that they are still actively working
on the case a year later. They say that they
are waiting on evidence and DNA results from
the FBI. Results that they had been waiting for,
for at least six months, they say. Master Sergeant
Fred Danini told reporters that investigators
had potential suspects, but were waiting for
forensic results to narrow their focus. They
don't name any of the suspects publicly at this
point. As the months continue to tick by, police
never do any update about what those FBI results...
or if they were able to get DNA. They never say
what those results were. In November of 1998,
three years after the murder, there are still
no arrests and still no suspects in the case.
A $3 ,000 reward was offered for information.
It is revealed at this time that Shana had been
stabbed 54 times during the attack. a detail
that underscored the brutality of the crime.
By this point, three years later, police had
conducted over 300 interviews and collected nearly
200 pieces of evidence. They still believed that
Shana knew her killer. However, years start to
pass. Shana's case does come up in the media
around the anniversary, and her family does an
incredible job of keeping her face alive. As
social media starts to become a thing, they get
on there and create memorial pages for her to
keep her case active in the community and to
update people on what's happening. In 2024, 29
years after the murder, Shana's case remains
unsolved. Many of her friends from that time,
specifically those that she was hanging out with
the summer before she was murdered, have died.
Authorities say the investigation is still active,
but they have not released any new information
and they refuse to answer any questions citing
the ongoing investigation. But that is really
all we know about the murder of Shana Jaros.
So if you know anything about the murder of Shana
Jaros, you are urged to contact the Illinois
State Police Zone 6 Investigations at 618 -346
- So that is the cold case of Shana Jaros. I'm
not sure if you felt this way while you were
doing your investigative research into Shana's
case, but I definitely felt like her story was
just a bit familiar, more in the sense of, She
left home at 18 and was making her way in her
new young adult life. I know you and I did the
same. And there were a lot of nights that I experienced
in my youth that was very similar to this one.
And I mean, you know, playing cards and hanging
out, living in your new and or first apartment,
hanging with your friends. It sounded very familiar
to me. Totally. I remember being, you know, 18,
19, 20 and just needing to like be with my friends
every weekend and specifically like playing cards.
That is something that like I feel like a lot
of people kind of get into like at 18, 19 years
old, like you just want to play cards with your
friends. So I definitely have memories of doing
that. Yeah, every time my friends moved into
a new place, like a new apartment, we would always
have some kind of like housewarming celebration.
And they could range from really big parties
to, you know, just kind of an intimate gathering
like Shana was having for her housewarming slash
Halloween party. But yeah, the whole scene felt
very familiar to me and very normal. I will say
too, around the same age as Shana, Along with
my roommates experienced a robbery. And I think
I've mentioned that on this podcast before. But
law enforcement at the time did say to us, you
know, whoever did this definitely had eyes on
your apartment. And when you and your roommates
were moving in and out of it, I know that they
said that the person who committed this crime
probably knew Shana. But I do think that there's
a possibility here that it. was an outsider.
I think it's worth mentioning that that's an
absolute possibility. Yeah, I mean, just to get
right into it. Yeah, we police have never named
a suspect, have never even hinted at who a suspect
might be. But, you know, they said there was
no forced entry. So they believed or theorized
that Shana knew her killer. We, of course, have
talked before on the podcast that there's a lot
of ways to get somebody to kind of open a door,
especially maybe if you live in a small, trusting
community. Maybe, you know, you could get someone
to open the door and there's not a obvious sign
of force in that kind of trickery. But, yeah,
I think it's possible that... Sheena did know
her killer. And I think with all the information
we have, which is very little, I think it's also
a possibility that someone, you know, like you
said, just kind of walked in or, you know, was
a random attacker. You know, Sheena had just
moved into this apartment where the locks changed
from the previous tenant or previous multiple
tenants. You know, when was the locks last changed?
Who still had keys to that apartment that maybe
shouldn't have had them? Are there any maintenance
workers or just people servicing the apartment
building that maybe would have keys to be able
to let themselves in? There's a lot of possibilities
here, and I would be curious what has been ruled
out officially. Just diving deeper into the timeline,
I think the circumstances around her death and
the details within it. do lend itself to the
perpetrator being someone that she knew. I think
to put it as delicately as possible, it was shocking
to hear that she was stabbed 54 times. It's very,
you're very decisive in those moments. That's
a long time to just that movement over and over
again. To me, and... You know, having looked
at true crime for a very long time along with
you, it's a crime of passion to me. It very much
says to me that this was personal. Yeah, I think
the brutality of it and, you know, choosing to
stab someone that many times does speak to, like,
a level of anger that feels personal. That someone
would have to be, like, really, really angry
to do that to another person. So, yeah, I do
think, you know, statistically, it is most likely
somebody that she knew, all things considered.
But, yeah, just, you know, things we know from
true crime, it's, you know, stabbing is a crime
of passion, just like you said. So I do think
that lends itself to... Shayna knowing who killed
her. I do think that the 54 times also lends
itself to a maybe frenzied state. And for me,
that's where the toxicology report I'm very interested
in. Again, the 54 times, if not in an extreme
headspace of... anger or rage or just in a frenzied
state, it could be a mind -altered state. I'm
curious to know if whoever was committing this
crime was using substances that night. And I
think knowing the toxicology report on her end
could lead us to questioning more people. I don't
say us as in we are doing this questioning, but
in the grand scheme of things, I think the toxicology
report Could reveal more details. Yeah, and I
assume police have it. They have those results.
They never release them, but I know it's a typical
part of autopsies. So, yeah, just like you said,
it would just lead to, you know, just a little
bit more about what happened that night and just
give a basis to confirm what the friends were
saying there. Did they say they were doing X,
Y, and Z? Well, X, Y, and Z showed up here, so
that supports that. Or did they say, no, we weren't
doing anything, but X, Y, and Z shows up on the
report? You know what I mean? Like, it just is
a fact and, like, a piece of information that
just helps us solidify, like, facts in the night,
which, you know, in true crime, to me, it's like
all facts are friendly, so we should gather as
much information that we can. Exactly. And I
think another fact of this case that really stuck
out to me is that she bled out, which means she
was left alone and or whoever committed this
watched that happen, which is very, very frightening
to me that a person or people were in the room
while she was dying. And at the end of her life,
it could have been prevented. That's a big detail
to me is that either, you know, she was stabbed
in this frenzied state and the person left or
they stayed. Either way, it's a horrifying reveal.
Yeah, like you said, it's one of the few facts
we do have that she died from blood loss. And
yeah, it just seems absolutely torturous for
that to be the cause of death. It really leaves
me speechless and truly kind of works me up when
I think about like just the brutality and how
like murder is always unnecessary. But it's like
this was completely unnecessary. Like it did
not need to be so brute. Like why? And, you know,
just to echo like what her father says, it's
like he wants to know who killed his daughter
and why. And, you know, that why. Like really
gets me in this because it's like, who do you
think you are to do this to another human and
then leave? Like, yeah, I just I really get worked
up about this because it just feels so brutal.
Yeah, the brutality of this also makes me curious
of what the weapon was. I'm not sure if you even
mentioned that or if I if that was something
that I missed, but. I don't think it's here in
this case. And I think that really changes the
motivation around everything. Knowing what that
weapon was that caused this damage, that ended
a life, I think could really change the narrative
of who committed this crime. Yeah, we don't know
the murder weapon. Police say that they have
not been able to find it. They've never updated
if they have found it. But last we knew, they
were not able to locate it. And no details about,
you know, what kind of, you know, knife or other
instrument was used to stab her. And yeah, I
think that's... That's just another piece of
evidence. You know, was it a knife from the kitchen?
You know, something that was there, which would
lead you to think that, you know, somebody didn't
come with that. So maybe this was more spur of
the moment happening. But if it is a knife that
Shana didn't have and wouldn't have been at her
apartment, then somebody came with that knife,
which kind of suggests more pre -planning and
watching. you know, just almost a different intent.
So yeah, I agree that having that murder weapon,
I think, would provide a lot of evidence and
just kind of knowing just, again, a little bit
more about what happened that night. And again,
just on that, like, if I could sit down and,
like, know anything and just read the case file,
I'd really want to know what these friends at
this party said happened. And, you know, did
her roommate leave that night and sleep somewhere
else? Was her roommate... there when this happened
and just didn't wake like what happened and what
did they say happened because it seems like they
are all the last people to see shana alive besides
the killer so minute for minute what happened
that night and then once you left shana where
were you minute for minute you know like i'm
very curious about all of that i'm glad you went
back to that because it brought me to the beginning
of the timeline which is the the boyfriend, the
roommate, the friend, the neighbor? Were they
included in the 300 interviews? Were they investigated?
Was anyone in that group a suspect? And I know
you may not be able to answer those questions,
but I circled right to that, to the people that
were around her most immediately. Yeah, we don't
really know anything. Police have been very tight
lipped about those friends, what they've said.
They've never publicly said anything about what
happened that night beyond, you know, there were
Shana and three other people there and they were
playing cards. Her boyfriend's like his identity,
like this new boyfriend that her family kind
of talked about. His identity never really comes
forward. It's unclear if he's one of the boys
that were. was there um i believe one of them
was tanya her roommate's boyfriend but yeah just
what happened what did they say happened and
it's interesting that like throughout the reporting
of the story typically like you hear from other
friends and we heard a lot from sheena's family
in the reporting but you never heard from the
roommate which i always thought was a little
interesting that that roommate obviously would
be very traumatized so Maybe there's good reason
she wasn't talking if she is truly innocent.
But yeah, just a really interesting question
to know what happened to or what happened with
all of them and what their story is. You know,
I do hope in this case that with all the evidence,
we know police collected a lot of evidence, nearly
200 pieces. So I would be curious to know what
evidence they have, if they were ever able to
get a DNA profile of the killer or. suspected
killer. And, you know, if they weren't able to
test it or get that DNA back in 1995, is there
anything left that we could retest today to maybe
get an updated profile to put into databases
to see if there's a hit? Because with a crime
of this violence, statistically, it seems likely
that they committed another violent crime that
would put them in a database. So where is all
the evidence in this and what is the status of
it? I hope that this case can be solved because
there was so much evidence that they're able
to bring justice and answer and have somebody
have to answer for all of this. I think our listeners
will agree that there's a sense of immediacy
around this case because of how violent her death
was. So I think that with new ears listening,
new eyes on Shana's name is only a positive thing.
So again, if you know anything about the murder
of Shana Jaros in November of 1995, please call
the Illinois State Police Zone 6 Investigations
at 618 -346 -3990 or you can call Crime Stoppers
at 1 -800 -352 -0136. If you're not already,
please follow us at our Instagram at coldandmissing.
You should be able to type in our name and we'll
pop right up. We will be posting pictures of
Shana on there. So please share them, especially
if you've never heard this case before. I think
the more people we get listening to this case
and just get her name out there, only good can
come from that. Getting urgency behind her case
is needed right now to just keep that momentum
alive. If you or someone you love is hard of
hearing, we have transcripts on our website,
www .coldandmissing .com. We also have all our
old episodes on there and lots of ways for you
to contact us. So if you want to reach out, please
go to our website. And if you could leave us
a review in your podcast player, we would appreciate
it so much, especially, like I said, if you've
never heard of this case before, five stars goes
a long way in getting this case into the hands
and ears of other people. And you never know
who might listen to something and just know something,
heard something, saw something. So please, five
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that metric is, goes a long way. And it's a free
way to support this podcast. Thank you so much
for listening to Cold and Missing. I'm your host,
Allie. And I'm your co -host, Eli. Have a good
week and stay safe, y 'all. Stay safe, y 'all.