After 20 years these cases remain unsolved, and a predator uncaught

The summer of 2007, was a busy one for the discovery of human remains in Alabama.

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Elmore County Jane Doe

​On July 22, 2007, partial skeletal remains were found wrapped in 6-by-8 ft. green tarp, tied with 72 feet of rope. The remains were buried on private property about 40 feet from the Coosa River at 308 Gladis Road, Titus, Alabama (erroneously listed on the Doe Network as 308 Galdis Rd). They were discovered when the property owners were gardening. They seldom visited the location since 1991. 

Lime seem to have been used around the burial site to stifle the smell of putrefaction.

Her estimated date of death ranged from 1950 to 2007. She was probably 30 to 40 years of age, and was Black or bi-racial. She  was 5 feet tall and had long, dark brown hair. Fingerprints are not available, but dental and DNA evidence is available. There were no clothing, jewelry or other personal items available to identify her.

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Pentacle found glued to skull of Prattville Jane Doe

​Two months later on September 29, 2007, a skull and upper jaw bone were found on the roadside at 683 Old Autaugaville Road in Prattville, Alabama.

The skull had a small medallion with a pentacle glued to it.

Little is known about who the skull belonged to, except that she was a Black female, with an estimated age of 40 to 60 years of age. She could have died between 1950 to 2007. No dental or fingerprints are available, but DNA is.

Was the pentacle glued to the skull as part of occult practices, or was this just something that a person with a goth flair for decorating discarded?

In some black magic practice, keeping the remains whether a victim, or dug up from a cemetery, is a way to bind the soul for divination services or as a messenger.

In 2019, a reddit poster related the following: "In early 2006, grave robbing was happening not far from where the skull was found. Just a little tidbit, albeit unlikely related to these cases."

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The murder of Shannon Paulk remains unsolved

Another cold case tied to the same area is the disappearance of Shannon Nicole Paulk, 11, who was last seen in the Candlestick RV Park where she lived.

Her mother Maria Paulk left for work at 7 a.m., when she came home her daughter had not been there, and by 7 p.m. the family became concerned. Residents of the RV park began looking for her. Police contacted Shannon's father, Billy Joe Paulk who lived in Eufaula to make sure she was not there. She wasn't.

​Federal, state and local authorities conducted an intense search for her without any luck. 

In September 2001, a 3-minute segment was aired on America's Most Wanted. They also aired a composite of the man the police were looking for as a witness. Someone had placed the man talking to Shannon the day she disappeared. 

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Composite of man wanted for questioning in the murder of Shannon Paulk.

He was described as a white man, about 6 feet tall, stocky, muscular build, very tanned with a beer belly. He was estimated to be 35  to 45 years old. His arms were hairy, and his teeth yellow and crooked. He had pronounced creases around his eyes and mouth, and across his brow. A bump on the bridge of his nose indicated it was once broken. He had a prominent mole under his right eye, with hairs growing out of it toward his nose. At that time, the man wore his dark hair short, and he had a mustache and goatee. He was driving a white, 4-door car that was covered in red dirt. He may have been seen inside Candlestick Park before Shannon's abduction, and had access to different vehicles.

At the beginning of October 2001, the search ended. Rabbit hunters in a wooded area north of Prattville found the body, which was later identified as Shannon Paulk.

According to Margaret Faulkner, an FBI agent assigned to the case, they were looking for a suspect who was familiar with the mobile home park where Shannon lived, and the area where the body was found. A sergeant with the Prattville police department, said the suspect may have changed his personal appearance by growing or removing facial hair, or changing his hair color. He asked people in the area to lookout for someone who recently cleaned his car more than would be normal.

Despite all the effort by law enforcement and the community, the case went cold.

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Abandoned house where the remains of Heaven Ross were found two years after her disappearance.

In December, 2006, the remains of Heaven LaShae Ross, 11, who disappeared in 2003, two years to the month of Shannon's disappearance, were found in an abandoned house in Holt, Alabama, six miles east of Northport off Crescent Ridge Road. It was a place known where people used drugs and did other illegal activities.

She was taken on a rainy morning while walking to her school bus stop near her home in Willowbrook Trailer Park.

An FBI forensics team scoured the site where her remains were found.

Police have never revealed how they believe Heaven was killed.

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Heaven Ross' murder from 2003, remains unsolved

The police department tried to determine if Heaven's murder was connected to Shannon Paulk's case, and the disappearance of Teresa Melissa Dean of Twiggs County, Georgia, near Macon who disappeared in 1999.

​All three girls disappeared in August, they were 11 years old. All three lived in trailer parks. In all three cases, commercial construction, roadwork or bridge building was being done nearby.

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​Teresa disappeared August 15, 1999, she was wearing a blue and white striped shirt, orange knit pants, clear gel sandals and gold ball earing. She had a speech impediment. She was last seen walking down Lawrence Street near her family trailer at about 8 p.m. She said she was going to a friend's house to see some puppies, but she never arrived.

Cody Dwayne Landers, Teresa's mother's live-in boyfriend at that time, failed a polygraph test which he took voluntarily shortly after Teresa disappeared. He said it had been improperly administered. The relationship between him and Teresa's mother ended.

In October, 2001 he was convicted on seven child molestation charges (GA 16-6-4(a)), involving two children and sent to prison. He has been released and lives in a southern state. He is registered in a national database as an Adult Tier 3 sex offender.

Teresa's body has never been found, and authorities believe she was a victim of foul play.

Teresa's 14 year old sister Christy, was put into foster care after her disappearance. There must have been some type of risk at the home for her to be removed from her mother's care. 

A reddit poster commented: "And the fact that someone else called the police because they thought the family wasn't searching properly is heartbreaking. A throwaway child."

All of these cases remain unsolved, in some instances the victims are unnamed.

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LINKS FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THESE CASES
Elmore County Jane Doe 
Prattville Jane Doe
​Teresa Melissa Dean
Shannon Paulk
Heaven Ross - an official site via a police department or attorney general's office for this cold case could not be found. If you have information contact the Tuscaloosa Police Dept.