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 stars in your podcast player, thumbs up, whatever 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.