MS MS - Shondra May, 17, Forest, 4 Feb 1986

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The battle of Champion Hill is studied and visited by Boy Scouts. I know 3 of new suspects are boy scouts.
 
In just a few days this case will reach 28 years unsolved. Gathering from what I have read,the original crime scene was not preserved. Family moved the vehicle prior to Law Enforcements arrival. Law Enforcement followed SOP (looking at the family and boyfriend)
And speculation from the community within, producing false leads.
22 days later Law Enforcement in Hinds County dropped the ball, mishandling Ms. Mays body, at the scene of Baker Creek.
 
Has This Man Been Looked at as a Suspect?
This man has ties within the community Cartage,MS/Hattiesburg,MS/ Collins,MS
Related Family
Jenkins/Jefferies/Strahan

Two Weeks ago I learned of the 1986 Abduction and Murder of Shondra May from The Shondra May Mystery by Wayne Brown. This Case immediately made me think of Case on ffrf.org I read a month or so earlier; "Betrayal of Trust: Clergy Abuse of Children" by Annie Laurie Gaylor. In the Book it references a case and that occurred in Hattiesburg, MS on July 9,1986:

The grandmother of a minister who abducted an 18 year old woman for 24 days and raped and molested her, could only comment, "If you had seen him when . . . he preached, his face was just shining like an angel." This diabolical crime involved kidnapping Maria C. Smith from a shopping mail in Hattiesburg, Mississippi on July 9, beating her with belts and raping her, and imprisoning her bound-and-gagged in the trunk of a car for what a judge later termed a 24-day reign of "terrorism." On August 2, the assailant Rev. Karl Strahan and his father purported to discover the missing teenager, and were touted as heroes. Two days later police realized Strahan was the abductor. He had threatened Smith's life if she had not backed up his story. On February 6, 1987 he pleaded guilty to kidnapping and armed robbery in Forrest County, where he received a 25-year concurrent sentence. The same day in bordering Covington County where he had taken his victim, Strahan pleaded guilty to rape and sexual battery. He received a sentence of life imprisonment on the rape charges and 30 years on sexual battery to run consecutively. Strahan was a licensed Mississippi Baptist minister. (Sources: Jackson Mississippi Daily, 8/6/86; 8/8/86; Hattiesburg American, 2/6/87)

Could Only Find limited information on this case but managed to find
Southern Herald Newspaper: Hattiesburg Girl Missing http://sth.stparchive.com/Archive/STH/STH07241986P06.php
Southern Hearld Newspaper: Helen Comments: article says she was found in a shack and was locked in a freezer
http://sth.stparchive.com/Archive/STH/STH08071986P01.php

Karl Strahan D.O.B. 12/15/1960 - 25yrs old at the Time of Crime
Crime occurred 5 months after Shondra May.

Karl Strahan was located in Jackson MS,
HRS (Karl's Father) had a place in Covington County, Collins, MS and also in Forest County Hattiesburg, MS
AS (Karls Uncle)
Look up HR under comments for Muddy Mississippi Justice and also Comments for the article Unsolved Murder Spotlight She Mentions Karl Strahan I found these on Saturday 1/25/14 I learned she is in a civil union with a M Jefferies(strahan Cousin)?. She posted on two different articles the same day this woman knows the family and knows something.

Look at <modsnip> Collins, MS owned by Karls Father H. Is that where Maria was held possibly Shrondra? <modsnip>
 
The Modus operandi does not match the May case. And there are irregularities in every article published in May case.
 
Machinehead said:
But not beaten with belt. That's mo. Look it up.
Click to expand...

"In examining Shondra&#8217;s remains, the medical examiner found that she had been bound and gagged with a packing tape common used in poultry-raising and process facilities common to the region in which she lived. The initial autopsy did not yield any conclusive results and a second autopsy by a different source was ordered. That examination found that the cause of death was strangulation"
(The Shondra May Mystery, by Wayne Brown)

Belt Maybe? I didn't list strangulation in my reply of M.O. similarities between the two woman, because Maria Smith was not.
Both women were kidnapped,raped,bound and gagged and held captive.
 
JusticeBound687 said:
Karl Strahan also worked on a chicken farm in Collins,MS.
Click to expand...

That is interesting. So many links there. But, her home area is surrounded by chicken farmers, as well.

I'm fairly new to WS and this is my first posting to this thread. I was a freshman in college when Shondra went missing, making me just a little bit older than she was. I lived in the same county she was found in. I remember being scared and horrified for her and her family. As the years have passed I've never forgotten Shondra and have always hoped that her murderer would be found and removed from society. It's scary to think he might live among us. Friends of mine that I've met over the years who were in her class are still visibly shaken by the mention of her name. I only ever asked about her once and I'll never ask again after seeing the pain it dredged up.
 
I'm going to list the links we've collected so far. It's not much, unfortunately.

Small Town Pulls Together In Wake Of Teen's Murder
MICHELLE PERRON , Associated Press
Mar. 11, 1986 2:28 PM ET

Weeks returned to state without being charged in death
The Southeast Missourian
August 16, 1992

Article about the murder of Chanda Fehler
(references Shondra May and Wm McLain)
The Tuscaloosa News
March 2, 1993

Third Sheriff Revisits Unsolved May Case
Scott County Times
By CHRIS ALLEN BAKER, News Editor
Wednesday, January 21, 2009 10:21 AM CST

Unsolved Murder Spotlight: Shondra May
tru-tv Crime Library
April 26, 2013 10:45 AM By Nastacia Leshchinskaya

Shondra's Night
by Wayne Brown -- Hubpages
August 2012

The Shondra May Mystery
by Wayne Brown -- Hubpages
last updated February 6, 2014
 
In going back and reading some of the above posts, I'd like to clarify, just in case, that Forrest County, MS is a different location/area/region of the state than the Forest, MS where SM worked. Forrest County, is in south MS better known for the city of Hattiesburg. Forest, MS is in Scott County which is considered to be in the east central region of the state. The two are about 87 miles apart. Some may have already been aware of the difference, if so, carry on. It is, however, something that has been to known to confuse those who are unfamiliar with these areas. Just my two cents.
 
Quill said:
In going back and reading some of the above posts, I'd like to clarify, just in case, that Forrest County, MS is a different location/area/region of the state than the Forest, MS where SM worked. Forrest County, is in south MS better known for the city of Hattiesburg. Forest, MS is in Scott County which is considered to be in the east central region of the state. The two are about 87 miles apart. Some may have already been aware of the difference, if so, carry on. It is, however, something that has been to known to confuse those who are unfamiliar with these areas. Just my two cents.
Click to expand...
I think the distance and country setting
are contributing factors and relevant.
It is 70.4 Miles from Scott County,Forest,MS
To Hinds County, Bolton,MS.
 
JusticeBound687 said:
I think the distance and country setting
are contributing factors and relevant.
It is 70.4 Miles from Scott County,Forest,MS
To Hinds County, Bolton,MS.
Click to expand...

I'm sure you are right. I am local and I know/have traveled all of these areas many times. I'm very familiar with all of these areas. I actually live very near the interstate that would connect Scott Co to Bolton. People in these areas travel those roads on a regular basis. The city of Jackson (in Hinds Co) sits between Scott County and Bolton, which is very near to Warren County, which is the county that Vicksburg is in, right on the banks of the Mississippi. It's a clear path across the central part of the state along I-20 from Forest to Bolton. That is very relevant.

But Hattiesburg, which is in Forrest County is not considered local to either of these areas. It's about two hours south traveling the roads which are not interstate hwys. I was trying to point out that people who are not local often think these two areas are one and the same, or that they are in close proximity, which they are not.

Being a more rural state, people tend to travel to someplace else to do they're main shopping, such as Christmas, or serious medical care. It depends where you live. If someone in Forest, Scott Co that I know said to me, Hey, I'm going to Jackson today, it would be pretty normal. If they said hey, we're going to Hattiesburg, Forrest Co, I'd ask why. JMO being local.
 
Quill said:
I'm sure you are right. I am local and I know/have traveled all of these areas many times. I'm very familiar with all of these areas. I actually live very near the interstate that would connect Scott Co to Bolton. People in these areas travel those roads on a regular basis. The city of Jackson (in Hinds Co) sits between Scott County and Bolton, which is very near to Warren County, which is the county that Vicksburg is in, right on the banks of the Mississippi. It's a clear path across the central part of the state along I-20 from Forest to Bolton. That is very relevant.

But Hattiesburg, which is in Forrest County is not considered local to either of these areas. It's about two hours south traveling the roads which are not interstate hwys. I was trying to point out that people who are not local often think these two areas are one and the same, or that they are in close proximity, which they are not

Being a more rural state, people tend to travel to someplace else to do they're main shopping, such as Christmas, or serious medical care. It depends where you live. If someone in Forest, Scott Co that I know said to me, Hey, I'm going to Jackson today, it would be pretty normal. If they said hey, we're going to Hattiesburg, Forrest Co, I'd ask why. JMO being local.
Click to expand...

I understand what you are saying makes perfect sense. I know they are two different counties. That's my point. Strahan had family In Carthage, Jackson, Collins,Hattiesburg.
So that kind of travel would make sense.
 
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