250 - The Murder of Janet Shirar

Trace Evidence

Steven Pacheco

True Crime, Documentary, Society & Culture, History

4.7 • 4.2K Ratings

🗓️ 29 August 2025

⏱️ 79 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Sunday, May 25th, 1980 -- Kokomo, Indiana. Twenty-nine year old special education teacher Janet Shirar doesn't show up for a pre-planned family gathering and birthday party for her nephew. After multiple calls to her apartment go unanswered, her mother, stepfather and friend arrive to check on her. They find her car in the parking lot, the door slightly ajar and her apartment cloaked in darkness.

Entering, they notice several concerning details and items out of place. A small, bloody handprint is clearly visible on the wall beside her bedroom door. As they approached the bedroom, their eyes were drawn to the open bathroom door and there, lying face down on the cold tile floor, they discovered Janet's lifeless body. She had been the victim of a vicious knife attack.

Over the course of the next sixteen months, investigators commit all of their time and energy to tracking an unidentified woman who has made bizarre statements about the crime and, possibly, her involvement it. However, when the case becomes a political issue, a debate between the prosecutor's office and detectives leaves the family with neither answers nor justice. More than forty-five years later, the truth remains obscured and Janet's killer continues to walk free.

Follow Trace Evidence on Social Media
Twitter --- Instagram --- TikTok --- YouTube --- Like Facebook Page --- Join Facebook Group --- Threads --- Like MeWe Page --- Join MeWe Group --- Bluesky

Suppport Trace Evidence
Patreon --- Paypal --- Cash App --- Buy Me A Coffee

Trace Evidence Merch Shops
TeePublic --- ShopTEPod --- Spreadshop

All Other Links
Official Trace Evidence Website --- LinkTree

Music Courtesy of:

"Lost Time" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
"Echoes of Time" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
"Galactic Rap" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

#truecrimepodcast #unsolvedmysteries #coldcase #coldcaseinvestigation #murder #murdermystery #missingperson #missingpersons #truecrimecommunity #mysterypodcast #truecrime #coldcasefiles #truecrimestories #crimelovers #truecrimeaddict #truecrimejunkie #crimescene #justiceforall #missing #crimesquad #podcastcommunity #sleuthsunite #darkhistories #criminalmindset #detective #detectivediaries #forensics #forensicfiles #crimestories #crimepodcast #traceevidence #traceevidencepodcast #criminalinvestigation #justiceforvictims #detectivework #truecrimediscussion #podcastfamily #listenandsolve #crimefans #listentotraceevidence #uncoverthetruth #podcastrecommendations #podcastlove #podcastlife #truecrimeobsessed #followtheclues #cluefinders #podcastaddict #unsolvedmurders #unsolveddisappearances #detectiveatheart #jointheinvestigation #disappearance #vanishing #abduction #gonemissing #upandvanished #pacheco #stevenpacheco #podcasting #crimetalk #crimeanalysis #theories #janetshirar #shirar #kokomo #indianaunsolved #realcrimes #disappeared #evidence

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/trace-evidence--3207798/support.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	The desperate trio came upon the car parked exactly where it always was.
0:14.4	The orange-red sheen of the small vehicle almost seemed to flicker and glow like the dull flame of a dying fire captured in the misty
0:22.5	disorientation of the thick, sticky spring night. Just beyond the pavement across a small patch of
0:29.3	poorly manicured grass, a dark void lie behind the towering windows of the apartment building
0:35.0	with no hint of light within.
0:42.9	Together, the three approached the windows and peered into the darkness, able to make out only the edges and shapes of objects, as they captured faint reflections emanating from the dusky
0:48.3	bulbs atop the few functioning light poles in the parking lot.
0:52.9	Shining a flashlight into the darkened apartment, they watched with hesitation as the beam
0:58.0	moved along the back wall, sliding down onto the arm of the couch, dipping down into the
1:03.9	obscured ocean of the carpet. There, the flashlight captured an out-of-place object in its
1:10.0	refracted glow. They quickly identified
1:12.6	it as Janet's purse, but they could not determine just where the 29-year-old was herself.
1:19.7	Deploying a key acquired from the manager's office, the three swung open the door and stepped
1:24.6	softly into the blackness. Lost fingers slid along the wall
1:29.1	in pursuit of light switches, who responded to contact by snapping up into their powered-on
1:34.3	positions, but there came no illumination. It was then that their breath caught in their throats
1:40.2	as the pale glow of the flashlight delve deeper into the apartment. Across from the door,
1:46.3	the light came to rest on what appeared to be the bloody print of a woman's hand, smeared onto the
1:51.7	wall just outside of Janet's bedroom. Stepping further inside, the flashlight moved from left to right,
1:58.8	examining the floor and walls of the hall until the beam
2:01.8	passed through an open doorway. It was there that the brutal scene was discovered. Lying on the
2:07.7	cold tile floor in a bloody heap was the body of Janet Shearer, and it was immediately clear
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Steven Pacheco, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Steven Pacheco and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.