MADISON — A positive DNA match has been made
linking 63-year-old Rubin Weeks to the 1986 abduction and murder of 17-year-old Shondra May, according to Sheriff Mike Lee, who confirmed the development Thursday on the
podcast Investigation: Homicide.
Sheriff Mike Lee on Investigation: Homicide
Weeks, who was arrested in April and charged with kidnapping, rape and murder in the cold case after nearly four decades of investigation, has long been tied to the crime in most investigators’ minds, but this revelation does it through advanced forensic analysis.
“We have recently, and again we’re prior to going to the grand jury with this, but there is DNA that absolutely links the suspect to the crime,” Lee told Therese Apel of Darkhorse Press and Clinton Police Detective Amanda Johansson, hosts of the podcast. “So you get it first here, but the rest of that will be explained to the grand jury. The rest of that will go to the grand jury, and later on, working with the DA’s office, we can explain what that actually is.”
Chief Deputy Brad Ellis on Investigation: Homicide
In a twist of irony, Weeks had once demanded a DNA test in a separate 1991 Missouri case in which he was convicted of kidnapping and rape, and that test confirmed his guilt.
May, a high-school senior working at McDonald’s in early February 1986, vanished while on her way home after a late shift. Her abandoned car was found near her driveway, keys in place, engine off, and radio still playing. Twenty-two days later, her nude body was discovered bound with industrial tape and wrapped in plastic bags in a creek near Bolton in Hinds County.
The investigation into May’s disappearance stretched across decades, surviving changes in law enforcement and the limitations of early forensic science. The recent DNA results finally linked evidence collected in 1986 to Weeks, who had long been one of the early suspects in the case.
Red hairs recovered at the scene seemed to point to Weeks, who has red hair, and his pattern of behavior in the Missouri crime mirrored the details of May’s abduction. In that case, the victim was also taken from her car, taped, and left bound. It was nearly identical to the methods used in the May case.
Rubin Weeks
Lee said the arrest of Weeks is not the end of the investigation. Authorities are still looking into whether anyone else may have assisted or had knowledge of the crime.
Weeks remains in custody without bond and faces trial in Scott County on charges that could carry a life sentence if he is convicted.
Scott County Sheriff confirms DNA match from main suspect in 1986 Shondra May case - Darkhorse Press
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