Found Deceased ID - Shawnta Larae Pankey, 25, Idaho County, 15 Apr 2018

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Looks like yet one more case of a young woman murdered and the murderer getting away with it. It's just unbelievable how many times I've read the exact same scenario reported: BF and GF had an argument. GF simply "walked away" alone into the night, turned off her phone (or left it behind) and is never to be seen or heard from again. Never mind if she has left behind young children, other close family members, friends, a job, school, a home, a car, her ID, all of her belongings, bank accounts, pay checks, etc. Just "walked away" forever from her entire life over a disagreement...right.

The simple solution must certainly be: if you're the GF, don't "walk away;" stay put and make the BF "walk away." If only it were that simple!

I wish more women truly walked away and never looked back--with their lives and self-esteem in tact--the very first time they were in any way mistreated or disrespected by a man. MOO.
 
APR 23, 2019
One Year Anniversary: Finding answers in the search for Shawnta Pankey (Video)
Shawnta Pankey has been missing for one year and the family of this Grangeville woman say they won’t stop until Shawnta Pankey is found.

The $12,000 reward is still being offered by the family for information leading to where Shawnta is.

[...]

Shawnta’s sister C sent us picYtures to share. They went to Pine Bar on April 15, just last Monday, as a remembrance day for Shawnta.

CY says they continue to search but one of the challenges is that she knows people are afraid to speak up, but she says to think about Shawnta, her family, and her little girl.

(Name changed to initials by me)
 
This case never leaves my mind.

I really wonder if Shawnta was anywhere near Pine Bar when she was reported missing. From what I recall of the case she was last seen outside her apartment getting into a vehicle, and that is where her trail ends except for hearsay and a few items of undetermined ownership.
 
janewall said:
This case never leaves my mind.

I really wonder if Shawnta was anywhere near Pine Bar when she was reported missing. From what I recall of the case she was last seen outside her apartment getting into a vehicle, and that is where her trail ends except for hearsay and a few items of undetermined ownership.
Click to expand...
In looking at some of the links on this thread I believe only her boyfriend saw her, no one else. I don't believe myself she was ever there.
 
APR 25, 2019
UPDATE: Shawnta Pankey still missing one-year later, family continues search
[...]

“There's nothing there proving that she was there so it's really hard and discouraging to know if she was really there or if she wasn't there or if we're totally looking in the wrong area,” Young said.

[...]

Idaho County Lieutenant Johnson tells KLEW, to this day they continue to work the case. Johnson said there are only a few facts they know are true:

The fact that she and her boyfriend are seen on surveillance camera leaving their Grangeville apartment around 2:15 A.M. on April 15, 2018, going back and forth to pack their truck, then they drive away.

That same day at 11:06 A.M., Mills returns alone.

The most important, somewhere in those 9 hours Pankey goes missing.

[...]

Authorities said the boot that was found in Asotin County, last year was too washed out to pull any DNA from it.

[...]

Johnson said they've also reviewed hours of video and sent some video to the FBI for enhancement.

[...]

A hairbrush that was found during one of the searches in the Pine Bar area also didn't have any evidence and it did not belong to Pankey.

One of the challenges of this missing persons case, is that when people report they've seen Pankey, there's no proof.

The family said if you see something, take a picture.

Lt. Johnson said they continue to get tips from the public and they check each and every one of them.

[...]
 
PommyMommy said:
APR 25, 2019
UPDATE: Shawnta Pankey still missing one-year later, family continues search
[...]
“There's nothing there proving that she was there so it's really hard and discouraging to know if she was really there or if she wasn't there or if we're totally looking in the wrong area,” Young said.
[...]
Idaho County Lieutenant Johnson tells KLEW, to this day they continue to work the case. Johnson said there are only a few facts they know are true:

The fact that she and her boyfriend are seen on surveillance camera leaving their Grangeville apartment around 2:15 A.M. on April 15, 2018, going back and forth to pack their truck, then they drive away.

That same day at 11:06 A.M., Mills returns alone.

The most important, somewhere in those 9 hours Pankey goes missing.
[...]
Click to expand...

Okay, so the last verified sighting was by a surveillance camera. After that, nothing that can be confirmed.

And she was with Eddie, who has a DV record.

Who on earth goes camping in the middle of the night, sets up camp, breaks camp, and returns before noon the same day?

How far is Pine Bar/how much time does it take to get there from their apartment?

Who or what made you disappear, Shawnta? :(:(:(
 
janewall said:
Okay, so the last verified sighting was by a surveillance camera. After that, nothing that can be confirmed.

And she was with Eddie, who has a DV record.

Who on earth goes camping in the middle of the night, sets up camp, breaks camp, and returns before noon the same day?

How far is Pine Bar/how much time does it take to get there from their apartment?

Who or what made you disappear, Shawnta? :(:(:(
Click to expand...
And, in 30-degree weather to boot! o_O

Grangeville to Pine Bar is roughly 28 miles, or a 50-minute drive (The address of the apartment may be in this thread somewhere if you want something more precise). Google Maps
 
MAY 1, 2019 - Lengthy article; I had to snip quite a bit to comply with WS TOS.

Pankey disappearance one year later – ‘We’re not going to give up on this case’
[...]

She was reported missing the following day by her mother after she failed to pick up her daughter, S.

[...]

While Mills is a person of interest in the disappearance, according to Johnson, he pointed out they have many other possible scenarios involved.

One stems from the report of a man and his girlfriend, with her children, who were driving up Rice Creek grade to go mushroom hunting on Joseph Plains. Due to the rain, they decided to head to the river, and on the way they saw a young woman with red hair hiking up grade, between 10 and 11 a.m., which fits into the time, Johnson said, that Mills said Pankey went missing from the camper.

“We felt the story was so important we had him take a polygraph,” he said, the first time they have done this with a witness. “He passed.” Also lending credibility were the details the couple each noticed about the woman they spotted on the grade, such as the male noticing she wasn’t wearing hiking boots and the woman saying they were pink-topped cowboy boots, which match what Pankey was reported wearing at the time of her disappearance.

[...]

“We always contact the cell phone carrier right off the bat for what information we can glean about the missing person’s movements,” Johnson said.

“The unfortunate thing,” he continued,” is in that country, there is nonexistent or extremely limited cell phone coverage.” Pankey and Mills shared the same phone, and there was no contact between the phone and cell towers at the time of the disappearance, “which may mean the phone was switched off and/or that they were exactly where the boyfriend said they were.”

[...]

“We’re looking into every possible scenario; we haven’t excluded anything,” Johnson said. “We’re not discounting anything. We’re listening to what anyone has to say and looking into it to see if that possibly could have happened.”
 
In a statement released Thursday evening, May 9, Nez Perce County Coroner Joshua Hall said he contacted the Idaho County Sheriff’s Office after 5 p.m., to confirm human remains found on Sunday were positively identified as Shawnta L. Pankey.

Detectives from the Idaho County Sheriff’s Office (ICSO) immediately notified Pankey’s family. A release from the Nez Perce County Coroner’s Office is expected Friday, May 10.
Click to expand...
Pankey remains found, confirmed by family
 
GraceG said:
I'm glad the family has closure. I hope they can prove it was not an accident. I never bought the "let's go camping at 2 in the morning in freezing weather' story the boyfriend spun.
Click to expand...

I didn't buy any of it either. "She went for a walk at 10:00 AM." However, BF was back home at 11:00 AM. :mad: He packed up and abandoned her in the wilderness right after she left on a walk??? IIRC, Shawnta reportedly was not even wearing a jacket when she "went for a walk." How does any normal, decent person explain away any of this? Unfortunately, I fear that the partial skeletal remains recovered may not reveal COD. MOO.
 
Any idea how they managed to identify the remains as Shawnta in 4 days considering they were just scattered bones in the water and on the bank? I suppose it is via DNA but I am surprised at how quick this was determined. Many times remains have to be sent off to specialty labs just to try to recover viable tissue to obtain DNA and the process takes months.
 
Jethro4WS said:
Any idea how they managed to identify the remains as Shawnta in 4 days considering they were just scattered bones in the water and on the bank? I suppose it is via DNA but I am surprised at how quick this was determined. Many times remains have to be sent off to specialty labs just to try to recover viable tissue to obtain DNA and the process takes months.
Click to expand...

Good question! I was also surprised by the short turn-around time.

Here is an article from 2018 that explains a new protein analysis method for bone and hair. However, it didn't seem to be in use by LE at the time of the article. Anybody know if this could be a possibility in Shawnta's case?

https://phys.org/news/2018-05-forensic-method-people-proteins-bones.html
 
Jethro4WS said:
Any idea how they managed to identify the remains as Shawnta in 4 days considering they were just scattered bones in the water and on the bank? I suppose it is via DNA but I am surprised at how quick this was determined. Many times remains have to be sent off to specialty labs just to try to recover viable tissue to obtain DNA and the process takes months.
Click to expand...

My thoughts were they used dental records since the skull was recovered. A post from her sister on FB seems to point in that direction, as well.

ETA - This reporter's video on 5/11 states dental records were used to confirm identity.

Armen Araradian KLEW
 
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RIP Shawnta (My mom was an acquaintance of hers and said it’s pronounced Shawntay). In my head I always say it wrong.

I truly hope there’s something left of evidence that could prove if foul play was involved. I suspect it was foul play and her boyfriend was a POI.

Prayers to the family. So sad. :(
 
Jethro4WS said:
Any idea how they managed to identify the remains as Shawnta in 4 days considering they were just scattered bones in the water and on the bank? I suppose it is via DNA but I am surprised at how quick this was determined. Many times remains have to be sent off to specialty labs just to try to recover viable tissue to obtain DNA and the process takes months.
Click to expand...
Dental records were used.
 
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