30-year-old cold case on ‘Grace Doe’ solved
PINEVILLE — Investigators with the McDonald County Sheriff’s Office announced on March 21 that they have identified a suspect in the October 1990 murder of 22-year-old Shauna Harvey, AKA Shauna Garber or “Grace Doe.”
At a press conference at the McDonald County Courthouse, Detective Lorie Howard said Talfey Reeves, who died in November 2021, is the long-standing suspect in the case and that investigators are confident they know what happened based on statements, sources, and a witness.
“We’ve got the guy. What breaks my heart is he’s not alive,” Howard said. She said that, had Reeves been alive, McDonald County prosecuting attorney Maleia Cheney would have requested charges of first-degree murder.
Howard said it was important to her that Shauna “wasn’t invisible.”
She said Shauna was set on fire by her mother at age three and then went through a failed adoption and “bounced around in foster care” before ending up in McDonald County, where she was being transported by bus every day through a work program.
“I don’t think she had an ounce of joy in her life,” Howard said. “She was important to me. She was important to us.”
Sheriff Rob Evenson said that despite the case being nearly 34 years old, it was very important not to give up. Investigators’ faces have changed over the years, and sometimes, years pass with no leads, he said. Howard worked on the case for 20 years, he said, and in the last five years, investigators identified “Grace Doe” as Shauna Garber and found new leads.
According to a news release, on Dec. 2, 1990, human remains were found outside an abandoned farmhouse on Oscar Talley Road. In the early stages, investigators were unable to identify the female remains or a suspect in the murder. Between 1990 and 2020, many leads were followed regarding missing females, but all subjects were excluded. Detectives began calling the Jane Doe “Grace” because they were told it was by the grace of God her identity would be found.
In March 2021, according to the news release, “with the help of Othram (which works with law enforcement to solve missing persons cases through DNA) and advancements in technology, investigators determined a familial match to DNA extracted from
‘Grace,’” and they learned she was in fact Shauna Garber. Later they learned her legal name was Shauna Harvey.
Howard read in a statement, “It is believed that Talfey Reeves picked Shauna up from the Tanlgewood/Ginger Blue area of Missouri State Highway 59. Reeves bound her wrists and feet ‘hog tying’ her, and transported her to an abandoned farmhouse where it is believed that he sexually assaulted her and overdosed her with drugs.”
Howard said a witness who was “terrified to talk” detailed the events of the crime along with information that was never released to the public. She would not say what those additional details were. In all, six sources without relationships to one another came forward with information without knowing what the others said, she added.
Howard said the six sources said Talfey Reeves took Shauna in a black Ford, a loud truck with no muffler, and two doors slammed. He bound her with cords and raped her. Then he overdosed her to keep her quiet “because she was screaming and he was scared because it echoed in that valley,” she said.
She said she held back information from the public, and the witness who came forward gave her that information, confirming that the witness had seen what had happened.
“Talfey Reeves was a suspect in this case for years,” she said. “I just couldn’t get anybody on the record … until he died.”
Reeves was well-known to law enforcement and had charges such as first-degree assault, trafficking, and fleeing, Howard said.
At one point, investigators interviewed Dennis Rader, the BTK Killer. Howard said she and Detective Rhonda Wise spent about five hours with Rader, “picking his brain.”
“We didn’t take this lightly,” she said. “It wasn’t well received (that Rader was not the suspect). I didn’t want her tied to that narrative. What happened to her was equally gruesome. I didn’t want her connected to that.”
“We talked to (Rader) for hours and hours,” she added later. “He wanted to talk about (his crimes). I showed him what we had on Shauna, and he said it was sloppy and overkill. He was horrified that someone would be so sloppy. It didn’t take but moments to know he thought this was the work of someone who was crazy.”
They also spoke with suspected serial killer Larry Hall during the course of the investigation.
“We had to sit down with evil to find Grace,” Wise said.
“I told her I wouldn’t give up on her,” Howard said. “I knew she had had a hard life. Until I realized she was Shauna, I didn’t realize how hard of a life she’d had.”
Danielle Pixler of Topeka, Kan., Shauna’s half-sister, was present for the announcement.
She said she was three months old, Shauna was five years old, and their brother was seven years old when they were all taken away from their mother, and she has no memories of Shauna.
“I’m happy. I’m overwhelmed,” she said. “I wish (Reeves) was still alive so he could be punished, but God’s going to punish him.”
“They’re amazing,” she said of the McDonald County Sheriff’s Office. “They kept her name alive.”
Pixler continued, “I just want to know about her. What was her favorite stuff? I’ve been looking for her, even for friends. But I haven’t been that lucky.”
She said she has been looking for her sister since she was 18, and she is now 51. She believes Shauna was looking for some of her previous foster parents when she came to McDonald County.
“I was distraught, very emotional,” when she first learned that Shauna had died, she said.
Howard said there may be more information coming out, as investigators want to learn about Shauna’s life. They are also working on more cold cases, she said, including one involving a young lady and one involving an older gentleman.
She attributed the success of the case to help from many people.
“We had help from various county offices. It wasn’t just a few investigators that made this happen. It was a whole pool,” she said.