There's still no trace of a baby girl who disappeared from Newaygo County 10 years ago.
The case made headlines back in 1997. To this day, the family holds on to hope that she might still be alive.
"It's been horrible. I was Shannon's primary caregiver for most of her life. She called me mamma, says Kim VerHage, Shannon's grandmother. The last time she saw her granddaughter, she was just about to turn 1 year old.
Kim's son, who was 17 at the time, is the father and they lived with her in Rockford. It was during a visit with the baby's mother, 19-year old Rachael Timmerman, that they both disappeared. At the time, Rachael was the victim in a rape case. "And she disappeared 3 days before she was supposed to testify under oath for the first time about the rape", says VerHage.
Rachael's body was found in 1997, in a lake inside the Manistee National Forest. There was no sign of 1-year old Shannon. The man eventually convicted and sentenced to death in Rachael's death, was also the man on trial for the rape. His name is Marvin Gabrion, and to this day, he says he doesn't know what happened to Shannon.
http://www.wzzm13.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=75998
The case made headlines back in 1997. To this day, the family holds on to hope that she might still be alive.
"It's been horrible. I was Shannon's primary caregiver for most of her life. She called me mamma, says Kim VerHage, Shannon's grandmother. The last time she saw her granddaughter, she was just about to turn 1 year old.
Kim's son, who was 17 at the time, is the father and they lived with her in Rockford. It was during a visit with the baby's mother, 19-year old Rachael Timmerman, that they both disappeared. At the time, Rachael was the victim in a rape case. "And she disappeared 3 days before she was supposed to testify under oath for the first time about the rape", says VerHage.
Rachael's body was found in 1997, in a lake inside the Manistee National Forest. There was no sign of 1-year old Shannon. The man eventually convicted and sentenced to death in Rachael's death, was also the man on trial for the rape. His name is Marvin Gabrion, and to this day, he says he doesn't know what happened to Shannon.
http://www.wzzm13.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=75998