The tragic story about the murders of bestfriends Diana Shawcroft and Jennifer Lueth really bothers me, the segment about them aired Wednesday night and I didn't sleep well after watching it. They were in my dreams and I kept waking up. I was a walking zombie at work today with the lack of sleep. The fact that Diana and Jennifer's bodies were found on top of each other in the middle of a desert really freaks me out. The police in the segment said that they were friends with everyone they met, even strangers, making it really difficult to pinpoint any suspects. The blue truck is their only clue to go on. I wonder if there were any updates, none were shown on UM last night though.

Wasn't that horrible? I thought it was creepy when the girls' pictures at the memorial site had been taken out of the frames.

I hope those families get justice soon.

Originally posted by UMfan77
I wonder if there were any updates, none were shown on UM last night though.

Unfortunately, the murders are still unsolved. However, here is a link to a web site which pays homage to Jennifer Lueth. (It also makes mention of Diana Shawcroft.)

http://www.geocities.com/dslu99/closing.htm

I wish we could discuss this case more as its such a sad, disturbing case. The problem is, there aren't many avenues to discuss. The only lead is a man in a blue truck that no one seems to know.

The fact that law enforcement has checked their friends and acquaintances for a male who drives a truck like or sinmilar to that truck and could not find anything makes me think it was a complete stranger or possibly someone they had just met either that night or a recent night at a club, bar, etc. Does anyone else have any thoughts on this case?

I reread their article on Wiki to refresh my memory.

I think the chilling part is their loved ones set up a memorial on the spot were they were found. 4 years later their pictures were removed from the frames. The police said the only ones who knew about the spot was the families and the killer(s). (since the location wasn't made public.)

And that the area was was only accessible with the help of a pick up truck or four wheel drive.

Sad, sad case. I hope one day their families get answers and their killer(s) are brought to justice.

I reread their article on Wiki to refresh my memory.

I think the chilling part is their loved ones set up a memorial on the spot were they were found. 4 years later their pictures were removed from the frames. The police said the only ones who knew about the spot was the families and the killer(s). (since the location wasn't made public.)

And that the area was was only accessible with the help of a pick up truck or four wheel drive.

Sad, sad case. I hope one day their families get answers and their killer(s) are brought to justice.

I cant remember but were the victims sexually assaulted?

I cant remember but were the victims sexually assaulted?

It wasn't revealed in the segment. In fact, I remember RS saying the cause of death was being withheld, and that piece of narration made it to the Farina version as well.

It wasn't revealed in the segment. In fact, I remember RS saying the cause of death was being withheld, and that piece of narration made it to the Farina version as well.

That's what two of the articles I read said.

Does anyone know or have a clue why they won't release the cause of death ? Could it hurt the investigation ?

It wasn't revealed in the segment. In fact, I remember RS saying the cause of death was being withheld, and that piece of narration made it to the Farina version as well.

Yea, I couldn't remember them saying and I always figured that they wanted to withhold it in case a witness or a person of interest slipped up.

yeah, that case is sad. I tend to think that the guy in the truck was the guy who did the crime, but of course, that's just guessing. the problem is that we don't know who that guy was. and yes, they haven't said how they died as they are holding that info in case they get a suspect.

Yea, I couldn't remember them saying and I always figured that they wanted to withhold it in case a witness or a person of interest slipped up.

Yeah. It kind of freaks me out a little bit for some reason when it's explicitly stated a piece of information is being withheld. :(

As far as what happened to Jennifer and Diana, I don't know about the man in the blue truck being responsible. There were plenty of reports the girls were extremely socially active. That man could've dropped them off anywhere. I've never known what to make of this one for that reason.

Yeah. It kind of freaks me out a little bit for some reason when it's explicitly stated a piece of information is being withheld. :(

As far as what happened to Jennifer and Diana, I don't know about the man in the blue truck being responsible. There were plenty of reports the girls were extremely socially active. That man could've dropped them off anywhere. I've never known what to make of this one for that reason.
There seems to be so little information unless anyone else has some more pointers. There was a reference on the forbidden site to the Glendale Police website and following this there's a link I found here:http://www.glendaleaz.com/police/ColdCase_ShawcroftandLueth.cfm

There seems to be so little information unless anyone else has some more pointers. There was a reference on the forbidden site to the Glendale Police website and following this there's a link I found here:http://www.glendaleaz.com/police/ColdCase_ShawcroftandLueth.cfm

If you type in the girls names in youtube there is a news video that was done recently wre the cold case investigator speaks about this case ...

Yea, I couldn't remember them saying and I always figured that they wanted to withhold it in case a witness or a person of interest slipped up.

It makes a lot of sense to withhold such info since a lot of nut-jobs and wackos bombard cops with false confessions ( like in other UM cases) , at least they can quickly weed them out and not waste time investigating them further, just look at how a false confession in the Tracey Kirkpatrick case tunnel visioned the investigators for some years .......

I cant remember but were the victims sexually assaulted?

Its most likely they were. The fact that the killer may have stolen their photos from the memorial at the crime scene suggests he wanted them as a momento or trophy and such types of criminals are sexually motivated hence its highly likely the girls were sexually assaulted pre and post mortem ...... the fact that the killer returned to the scene of the body dumps makes me suspect a guy who is capable of post mortem sexual assualts

2 good examples of such criminals is Bundy and Ridgeway who returned to were they dumped their victims and had sex with their corpses .........

Its most likely they were. The fact that the killer may have stolen their photos from the memorial at the crime scene suggests he wanted them as a momento or trophy and such types of criminals are sexually motivated hence its highly likely the girls were sexually assaulted pre and post mortem ...... the fact that the killer returned to the scene of the body dumps makes me suspect a guy who is capable of post mortem sexual assualts

I don't necessarily think so. There isn't any evidence available to us to clearly suggest a sexual motive. Returning to a crime scene and taking a momento isn't inherently sexual. It can be. But it isn't always.

I really have no idea what happened here.

I don't necessarily think so. There isn't any evidence available to us to clearly suggest a sexual motive. Returning to a crime scene and taking a momento isn't inherently sexual. It can be. But it isn't always.

I really have no idea what happened here.

I agree. There is nothing inherently sexual about any of the actions that have been revealed in this case. That doesn't mean they weren't assaulted, but we just don't have enough information to make a determination on that.

This case has always been an eerie one for me. I think the combination of the lack of leads and keeping the location where the girls were found a secret contribute to that eeriness. On top of that, the vandalism at the site just creeps me out. This is one, I feel will likely never be solved due to the complete lack of any clues to go on.

I don't necessarily think so. There isn't any evidence available to us to clearly suggest a sexual motive. Returning to a crime scene and taking a momento isn't inherently sexual. It can be. But it isn't always.

I really have no idea what happened here.

Think about it this way why would a guy go to all that trouble to kill 2 young women who werent carrying much money and or didnt owe him a dime ? Most criminals who target young women like our two victims here either have "issues" with women or their motive is sexual in nature.

The investigators in this case have released very little details about the bodies so its possible they are withholding a lot of info especially about sexual stuff. Most murders revolve aroung sex, drugs ,money, jealousy, rage and infidelity. Now you can eliminate most of the others based on the little information available in this case but I still come back to sex being a motive. Look at this way what would a grown man like the killer most want from those 2 young women he was targeting ?

In a lot of cases I have seen the answer to that question almost always comes back to sex . And just because the victims dont show signs of sexual assault it doesnt rule out sexual motives being behind the crime - there are serial killers who stabbed women to death and never raped them yet their motive was sexual........, there also burglars whose motives for burglary were sexual yet it wasnt apparent in the crime itself......

By the same token , many serial rapists go around raping women yet they are/were in relationships were they could get sex at home - the rapes werent about sex .......

I speculate that the crimes against our two were about sex even though they may not be an obvious inducator of sex being the motive for the crime. The 2 young women werent carrying much money, they werent involved in drugs or drugs or drug deals, they didnt owe anyone a substantial amount of money, as far as we know they werent involved in any love triangles ........so that pretty much leaves the motive being a sexual one for the killer(s).....

Think about it this way why would a guy go to all that trouble to kill 2 young women who werent carrying much money and or didnt owe him a dime ? Most criminals who target young women like our two victims here either have "issues" with women or their motive is sexual in nature.

We have no idea who killed Diana Shawcroft and Jennifer Lueth. They were last seen getting into a truck with an unknown male. But that doesn't mean this individual killed them. He could have dropped them off at another location for all we know.

Look at this way what would a grown man like the killer most want from those 2 young women he was targeting ?

Again, we don't know who the killer is. We don't even know if it was a single individual. The police actually think there may have been two individuals involved.

There is nothing inherently sexual about a man killing a young woman. The motive CAN be sexual. But it isn't always.

You can't eliminate any potential motive--much less deduce it down to a distinct possibility--precisely because of the lack of information released to the public. We don't have all the pieces; the police do.

And just because the victims dont show signs of sexual assault it doesnt rule out sexual motives being behind the crime - there are serial killers who stabbed women to death and never raped them yet their motive was sexual........, there also burglars whose motives for burglary were sexual yet it wasnt apparent in the crime itself......

That's true. But again, there isn't enough information available to the public for anyone here to be able to make that determination.

By the same token , many serial rapists go around raping women yet they are/were in relationships were they could get sex at home - the rapes werent about sex .......

Rape is never about "not getting" sex.

I speculate that the crimes against our two were about sex even though they may not be an obvious inducator of sex being the motive for the crime. The 2 young women werent carrying much money, they werent involved in drugs or drugs or drug deals, they didnt owe anyone a substantial amount of money, as far as we know they werent involved in any love triangles ........so that pretty much leaves the motive being a sexual one for the killer(s).....

Actually, none of us know any of those things. We know what we know from a UM segment and maybe a little internet research, and that's about it. Any of those things could be true and are being withheld. I feel any speculation on a motive at this point is pretty much a stretch provided the limited information available to us.


I still don't know what happened here.

There is no evidence to either confirm nor deny any sexual crime involved with the murders. They went missing May 24th and were found in late August. Three months in the AZ desert caused fast decomposition. They had to use dental records to identify both of the women.
The cause of death is still being withheld from the public so that when the killer is found they can use that evidence to confirm or deny his/her/their involvement.
The only thing the family knows is the same as the public. I wish we knew who the killer is.
Some think the reason he hasnt been caught yet is because it was his first/only murder and he isn't in the system yet. Or that he has had a lot of practice and has been able to get away with murders for awhile.

Before anyone starts questioning my answers and where I got my info, I have a personal connection with this crime. One of these women is a blood relative to me. I was very young when it happened, but it still haunts me every day. Any time a little child goes missing or the body of someone is found, Diana and Jennifer resurface from the back of my mind....
I hope both Diana's and Jennifer's families get justice and the answers we are always looking for.

The bodies were too decomposed to confirm or deny any sex crimes committed either before or after their murders.
The police had to use dental records to identify them.

There is no evidence to either confirm nor deny any sexual crime involved with the murders. They went missing May 24th and were found in late August. Three months in the AZ desert caused fast decomposition. They had to use dental records to identify both of the women.
The cause of death is still being withheld from the public so that when the killer is found they can use that evidence to confirm or deny his/her/their involvement.
The only thing the family knows is the same as the public. I wish we knew who the killer is.
Some think the reason he hasnt been caught yet is because it was his first/only murder and he isn't in the system yet. Or that he has had a lot of practice and has been able to get away with murders for awhile.

Before anyone starts questioning my answers and where I got my info, I have a personal connection with this crime. One of these women is a blood relative to me. I was very young when it happened, but it still haunts me every day. Any time a little child goes missing or the body of someone is found, Diana and Jennifer resurface from the back of my mind....
I hope both Diana's and Jennifer's families get justice and the answers we are always looking for.

Based on your screen name, I am going to assume you are a relative of Diane's?

We always appreciate hearing from friends/family on cases like this. I'm sorry for your loss and hope you get the answers you deserve.

Thank you for sharing and any input from family is always welcomed.

Some think the reason he hasnt been caught yet is because it was his first/only murder and he isn't in the system yet. Or that he has had a lot of practice and has been able to get away with murders for awhile...

Thank you for posting. I'm so sorry that your family suffered this loss, and I hope that you are able to get some answers and - most of all - justice.

Do you know if the detectives think that more than one person could have been involved? My thought is that it would be difficult (but not impossible) for one person to control two women.

I just saw this case on the forbidden site. What a creepy and sad story. The part when someone approached their memorial site and stole the pictures of the girls was really scary.

This case doesn't get a lot of discussion on the boards, but I find it to be one of the most haunting.

The withheld cause of death indicates to me that there may have been something unique about it. The girls weren't found for months in the Arizona desert and had gone missing in very hot weather. Whatever the method, there must have been some evidence of it that withstood exposure to the elements.

I agree with Meg that the killer doesn't necessarily have to be the person in the truck. The girls had met many people and they may have been introduced to a friend or acquaintance at a prior party or hangout that had nefarious intentions. I could certainly see why the person in the truck wouldn't come forward even if innocent (as it would look pretty damning on his part). The person who stole the pictures doesn't necessarily need to be the perpetrator as well; all of us who follow true crime know that cruel hoaxes and pranksters are out there.

The girls didn't have cell phones and they had no prior plans to be at the mini mart. Perhaps the man in the truck was someone they met at a party or bar and they trusted him enough to get in the car (perhaps emboldened by safety in numbers logic). Or he could have been a total stranger. There's not really a lot to go on here except the mini mart cashier's eyewitness testimony. But I can't help but wonder what the cause of death was that would be unique enough for law enforcement to withhold it.

I truly hope the evidence they found can be linked to the culprit(s) in the near future.

Posted this on websluths thought i would post it here.

This is just a theory i have what if by chance they met this guy beforehand say a few weeks before their murders but he was driving a different vehicle at the time but the first time he meets them he decides to be nice to gain their trust and drops them off in a different location the first time so they get home safely. A few weeks go by and he happens to see them at the store and pulls up they immediately recognize him and he tells them hey there’s a party about an hour away from here want to go hang out at it? The girls say sure so he either takes them to this supposed party possibly around where there bodies are found but instead there is no party there and he decides to kill them instead. This is just a theory i have though.

New full length news story - 'SOMEBODY KNOWS': Who killed Diana Shawcroft and Jennifer Lueth in 1996?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcChQQvDMME&sttick=0

Since Diana lay on top of Jennifer, their murders may have been ritualistic. They may have encountered people who are into the occult and who sacrificed them.

A thread about both women already exists: https://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=100031

I looked up the locations of where they were last seen and where their bodies were found on a map and the distance is about a 2 and a half hour drive north from the convenience store. I found this (https://www.oocities.org/dslu99/mini_mart.htm) website (which looks like it was created by someone related to Jennifer), and it says that Jennifer told the cashier at the convenience store "that she and Diana were headed toward the 83rd and Indian School to watch movies with a friend." It also says that they called "people that they knew, that they liked and trusted, to pick them up at the Mini Mart." The convenience store to the area of 83rd and Indian School Rd is about a ten minute drive. Yet they waited at the store for 2 hours (according to the cashier) until the guy in the pickup truck picked them up. Diana's sister says they left without their purses and cosmetics, and that they never would have gone for an extended period of time without them. But they had also gotten into an argument shortly before they left, which could have altered their plans. This (https://www.abc15.com/news/state/arizona-crime-uncovered/somebody-knows-who-killed-diana-shawcroft-and-jennifer-lueth-in-1996) article from June 2025 interviews Diana's sister and she says the last thing Diana said to her was "Tina, please come with us", which means they weren't necessarily going for a quick trip to the Mini Mart and then headed back. That article also says the Diana and Jennifer wanted to go out that night and do something fun since it was the Friday on Memorial Day weekend.

My gut tells me whoever picked them up was someone they knew (or someone that knew someone they knew) and was tasked with taking them to hang out with someone to watch movies that night. The area (https://www.oocities.org/dslu99/tule_mesa_ledge.jpg) where the bodies were found is very remote and is only accessed by hunters and off-roaders. IMO, they were driven to a location with the intention of watching movies with a friend where more than one person was present, something happened and the two women were killed, and someone either at that location was a hunter/off-roader or knew someone who was, and they made the trek 88 miles north to dump the bodies. The police have never released their cause of death. I sure hope the cops interviewed whoever lived near 83rd and Indian School Rd, because that would be the first person I would have checked out.

ETA: Watched that video that terrytowel linked and towards the end of the video, Diana's sister says, "whether it was a horrendous murderous attack or whether it was a terrible, terrible accident and nobody knew what to do." The cops never releasing their cause of death has always bothered me. Is it even remotely possible that their deaths were similar to Kurt Sova where something happened to them at a party and the people in attendance panicked and dumped their bodies? The cops aren't even calling the guy in the blue pickup a suspect...which is also odd to me.

"Tina, please come with us", which means they weren't necessarily going for a quick trip to the Mini Mart and then headed back.

I DO NOT think that the sister is guilty whatsoever, but I do find her story a bit odd.

On the UM segment, it was shown that they got into such a heated fight that the girls left without any of their belongings, in which the sister said they would never be without.

If that is true then why would her sister go "come with us Tina" if they left in a huff and sat infront of a convience store for 2 hours just to get away from her?

I DO NOT think that the sister is guilty whatsoever, but I do find her story a bit odd.

On the UM segment, it was shown that they got into such a heated fight that the girls left without any of their belongings, in which the sister said they would never be without.

If that is true then why would her sister go "come with us Tina" if they left in a huff and sat infront of a convience store for 2 hours just to get away from her?

I think her sister explained this better in that clip. She says that she was out all day house shopping and had just put an offer in on a home and had come home late (the three of them were living in a one bedroom apartment at that time) and it was hot out all day. Diana and Jennifer asked her if she would give them a ride because they wanted to do something fun but she was moody and kept telling them no. I think that was the argument. I think her sister saying "come with us" right before they left was one last ditch attempt at getting a ride. I'm sure the sister feels awful but she said she was hounded by the cops for 3 months and felt like they viewed her as a suspect. The guy in the blue truck changed that.

I think her sister explained this better in that clip. She says that she was out all day house shopping and had just put an offer in on a home and had come home late (the three of them were living in a one bedroom apartment at that time) and it was hot out all day. Diana and Jennifer asked her if she would give them a ride because they wanted to do something fun but she was moody and kept telling them no. I think that was the argument. I think her sister saying "come with us" right before they left was one last ditch attempt at getting a ride. I'm sure the sister feels awful but she said she was hounded by the cops for 3 months and felt like they viewed her as a suspect. The guy in the blue truck changed that.

Ahh okay. After viewing the clip youre right. What got me was that in the UM segment it was never stated that the argument was about a ride. Nor did she mention her saying "come with us" on UM