The Murder of Janet Lynn Shanahan: $45,000 Reward is Offered
Could the offer of a substantial reward help to solve one of Oregon’s oldest cold cases?
The family of a woman murdered in Oregon more than 50 years ago has raised $45,000 in reward money in the hope of catching her killer before it is too late for justice to be served.
Janet Lynn Shanahan from Eugene was just 22 and had been attending the University of Oregon in order to get the qualifications she needed to become a teacher in 1969.
On April 21st that year, Janet attended her brother’s 15th birthday party on Rutledge Street and was due back at the apartment she shared with her husband Christopher later the same evening.
However, she never made it home and a worried Christopher reported Janet missing the following day. By April 23rd 1969, Christopher and Janet’s sister were frantic and decided to drive around Eugene to see if they could find any trace of the young woman.
After just ten minutes of searching, they successfully located Janet’s 1951 Plymouth sedan vehicle abandoned in a ditch in an industrial area close to Roosevelt Boulevard and Maple Street.
There in the trunk was Janet’s lifeless body. She had been strangled to death and dumped with her car…
