Tanya Shannon Disappears After Holiday Party in IL

[gwen]

Footprints in a snowbank are the only clues for officers searching for a Chicago woman who vanished after walking away from a late night car crash that left her husband dead in the driver's seat.

A massive manhunt is underway for Tanya Shannon, a 40-year-old mother of four, who has been missing since early Sunday morning when authorities from the LaSalle County Sheriff's office located her crashed car on the side of a rural road.

In the driver's seat of the car was Shannon's dead husband, 41-year-old Dale Shannon, according to Sheriff Tom Templeton.

"She and her husband were at a company Christmas party Saturday night. They left the party heading to a family's house and on the way had a traffic-related accident in which Mr. Shannon was killed," Templeton told ABC News. "From the evidence that we've seen, Shannon was able to get out of the vehicle and go up to the roadway."

"From there we have no idea where she went," he said.

Templeton said that while alcohol was available at the party it does appear that the car crash was an accident. Further toxicology reports are being ordered, he said.

Footprints from a "slipper-like" shoe were found leading away from the car and up to the road, said Templeton, and one of the slippers was also located by the first responders.

Inside the car, a pair of high-heeled shoes were also found.

"Her family tells us that she was a loving mother and very committed to her children," said Templeton. "Not being in contact with her family is completely out of character for her."

Shannon's children range in age from 3 to 15.

"We have to consider that someone might have picked her up," he said. "She just seems to have disappeared."

The search resumed today for the third day, Templeton said, and about 50 people have joined the rescue effort.

Missing Mom Tanya Shannon Vanished After Car Crash

Weather reports from Dec. 5, the last night Shannon was seen, show that the temperature plunged as low as 4 degrees. There were also "several inches" of snow on the ground where the car was recovered, according to Templeton.

"We're keeping our minds open and options open," he said. "But if in fact she is out in the elements I think we have to realistically think of this as a recovery effort rather than a rescue effort."

Shannon's sister-in-law, Donna Baker, also told The Chicago Tribune that the couple had been married 20 years and had been spotting dancing the night away at the holiday party, which Baker had also attended.

"It's very mysterious what might have happened to Tanya," Baker said. "We checked the area hospitals and nothing, so we don't know if someone picked her up and took her somewhere. We just don't know."

Templeton said that he would "love for Shannon to walk in the door somewhere and tell us what happened."

"As long as she was alive to give her explanation and we could give her back to her children for Christmas, that's just fine," he said.

Shannon is 5'2" tall and weighs 125 pounds, has shoulder length strawberry blond hair and green eyes. She was last seen wearing a red dress and a gray fleece hooded jacket. She also wears glasses.

Anyone who might know where Shannon is should call police at 815-433-2161.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/tanya-shannon- ... 697&page=2

[bbeba103]

Tanya Shannon Still Missing After Walking Away From Crash That Killed Her Husband

Around 1:45 a.m. on a snowy Saturday night, a deputy in rural Illinois found a car crashed against a utility pole on the Grand Ridge Mazon Blacktop road The driver, 41-year-old Dale Shannon, was dead.

hannon, was dead His wife Tanya had vanished, leaving only a set of footprints leading away from the car. More than two days later, she is still gone without a trace, baffling authorities in rural Brookfield Township.

rookfield Township Fifty people, two dogs several All-Terrain vehicles a fixed-wing airplane and high-tech thermal imaging devices scoured the surrounding area for any sign of Tanya Shannon throughout the day Monday but found nothing. The search has resumed again Tuesday morning, with additional volunteers.

The Shannons, parents of four, were last seen leaving a holiday party arm-in- arm. "They were dancing together, really cutting up a rug," said Dale's sister Donna Baker to the Chicago Tribune.

Tanya was wearing a floor-length red gown and a hooded fleece. No coats were found in the car, but still, conditions in LaSalle County have been harsh The area received around seven inches of snowfall over the weekend, and windchill temperatures were hovering around zero degrees Monday night.

"To be out in the elements as they were that night, dressed only as she was t's very doubtful that you can survive terribly long," Sheriff Tom Templeton told the Tribune.

That being said, authorities are astonished at their inability to locate Shannon n a vast expanse of flat farmland. NBC Chicago describes the dilemma facing police:

Investigators said they have only two working theories: that she was injured and disoriented as she went for help on the bitter cold, wind- swept road and collapsed somewhere in the snow, or that someone picked her up under the guise of offering assistance.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/0 ... 93127.html

[Linda in L.A.]

How sad. Gwen...your post mentioned the accident was a traffic-related accident. Does that mean there was another car involved? If so...didn't they see where she went? If another car wasn't found...I'm wondering if someone on the road didn't target them (road rage??) and take her with them.

Very sad and very odd at the same time. Hoping they find her soon.

[bbeba103]

Body of Ill. mom who vanished after crash found

RANSOM, Ill. (AP) — Searchers on Monday found the body of a mother of four who vanished after an early December car crash that killed her husband, solving a mystery that began with the discovery of her slipper in the snow and footprints leading away from the car.

The body of 40-year-old Tanya Shannon was found in a LaSalle County field about three-quarters of a mile from where she and her husband crashed nto a light pole while returning during a snow storm from a holiday party n the early morning hours of Dec. 5. Dale Shannon was found dead behind the wheel, and his blood-alcohol content was found to be 0.266, or more than three times the state's legal driving limit of 0.08. An autopsy found he died of spinal injuries.

A sheriff's deputy who found the wreck found one of Tanya Shannon's slippers in the snow and footprints leading away from the car, but no other trace of her. Searchers spent days combing through the flat, snowy terrain on horseback, on foot and in helicopters, probing snow banks with poles and sweeping through soybean fields with metal detectors. The search resumed Monday because conditions had improved.

The clothing on the body found Monday matches what Tanya Shannon was ast reported to be wearing — a red dress and a gray hooded sweat shirt — and her purse was found nearby, said LaSalle County Sheriff Tom Templeton. The body was first spotted by a helicopter for Chicago's WBBM- AM.

"I think everyone feels relief, but it's not about us," Templeton said. "At least there's a closure to it. It's not the (outcome) we hoped for, but at least there's closure for the kids."

An autopsy for Tanya Shannon has been scheduled for later this week.

The crash occurred about six miles from the couple's home in Ransom about 70 miles southwest of Chicago. The Shannon's four children, who range in age from 4 to 15 years old, have been staying with family.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/art ... f3e6210c49

[Linda in L.A.]

Is it just me...or does anyone else find it odd that it took them close to a month to find her body when it was less than a mile from the crash? I understand Illinois has had bad weather...but if anything...that should have covered her body even deeper. A helicopter found her body? Just weird to me. Also that she had her purse with her...but left her slipper in the snow?