I was really glad to hear they still haven't given up on this case. Its one imo that would eventually be solved. I am a little puzzled as to why they have to exhume Shane's body though. Here's the article:

http://sanangelolive.com/news/crime/2014-07-02/sheriffs-office-announces-developments-26-year-old-double-homicide

SAN ANGELO--On July 4th, 1988, Sally Ann McNelly and Shane Paul Stewart were murdered, in a double homicide case that eventually made national headlines.

Fireworks
Twenty-six years later, local law enforcement officials are still searching for the killer--or killers--and the Tom Green County Sheriff’s Office held a press conference on Tuesday to announce two major developments in the case.

“We want to keep this case in front of the public,” said Sgt. Terry Lowe. “We’re still working hard to get this case solved.”

“In the last week we have had two major developments; we have tracked down a person of interest to a foreign country, with the assistance of the [United States] Department of State, and we’ve also exhumed the body--the remains of Shane Stewart--for DNA purposes. Those samples have been taken to the Department of Public Safety (DPS) lab in Lubbock, and we are awaiting results.

Sgt. Lowe said investigators were “covered up” with leads during the original investigation, as Crime Stopper’s operators forwarded more than one million tips after national television coverage of the case triggered a deluge of leads in the case.

Lowe gave a brief synopsis of the details.

“It was two teenagers--boyfriend and girlfriend—Sally was 18 and Shane was 16, and they went out to [Lake] Nasworthy for the fireworks display and their skeletal remains were found in November.

“It was a high-profile crime back then as it is today; Unsolved Mysteries aired it in 1991, so it’s had national attention, and we’ve been in contact with several of the shows that are on today—Cold Justice for one, and Dateline—they have all expressed an interest," Lowe Said.

Lowe said the case is listed as one of the top 12 unsolved cases on the DPS website.

Information received

Shane and Sally were last seen alive on July, 4th, 1988 by a park ranger inside Isabel Harte Park at O.C. Fisher Lake on July 4, 1988, close to midnight. They were seen inside Stewart’s copper-colored 1980 Chevrolet Camaro.

The following morning, the vehicle was found empty at a different location inside the park.

The pair were listed as Missing Persons on July 7th, 1988

On November 11th, 1988, the remains of Sally McNelly were found four miles south of FM 584, in the southeast portion of Twin Buttes Reservoir’s South Pool area.

On November 14, the remains of Shane Stewart were found nearby.

Unsolved Mysteries aired a segment detailing the double homicide on September 18th, 1991.

Numerous tips and information resulted in thousands of hours of investigations over several years.

The case has never been closed.

A Facebook page has been established for the case.

Sgt. Lowe said no stone is being left unturned in the investigation and anyone with information is urged to contact San Angelo Crime Stoppers at 325-658-4357 or Sgt. Terry Lowe at 325-655-8111.

Thanks for sharing that info!

I also wonder why they exhumed Shane's body "for DNA purposes". Shane and Sally's remains were skeletal, so it's unlikely they're looking for the killers DNA.

The bodies were found separate, but fairly close to each other, a few days apart. Surely they're not trying to confirm Shane's identity with a DNA test, thinking that maybe the remains were actually not his? Back in the 80s, they would have done a dental comparison at the time of discovery. I wonder what they're looking for.

Good news... This was a sad (and mysterious) case

This is good news. And I hope this new lead helps in solving the case.

Something that jumps out at me in that article (besides the obvious) are the ages listed for them at the time of their death; 18 and 16. It was said in the segment they got an apartment together, then eventually left town separately...which I assumed meant they broke up since it was mentioned that watching the fireworks together back in town the day they died was a reunion for them. And the majority of their time together, they weren't even legal adults. Was Shane 15 when he and Sally moved in together? I'm surprised his parents would even allow him to do that at that age. Unless that was a typo in the article.

This is an exciting development. I hope it leads to an arrest.

Admittedly, I haven't seen this one in awhile, but I seem to recall some Satanic cult undertones in the segment. Considering the late 80s and early 90s was part of the "Satanic Panic" era I tend to look at these claims, 20 plus years later, with skepticism.

It will be interesting to see what direction the new investigation goes in. I seem to recall that Shane and/or Sally was running with a sketchy crowd. Weren't they in possession of a gun that they voluntarily surrendered to the police claiming that a friend gave it to them and said that it had been used in a murder?

Assuming they ran with a shady crowd, I always wondered if their going to the cops to report these people was in any way connected with their deaths. It would seem logical.

Surely they're not trying to confirm Shane's identity with a DNA test, thinking that maybe the remains were actually not his? Back in the 80s, they would have done a dental comparison at the time of discovery. I wonder what they're looking for.

On the NBC version they show a very sad scene (which I think Lifetime edited out) talking about how Shane's dad was monitoring his police scanner and heard people called to this location. He arrived there thinking maybe they found them and they told him it was Shane. He wanted to identify him and they told him it was gruesome and there wasn't much left. The dad saw the body and said it was Shane and he was wearing the same clothes he left the night he went missing. They did say after 4 months all forensics clues were washed away but they could tell they had gunshot wounds so I still can't figure out how exhuming the body is going to help. Also there is no mention in the article of exhuming Sally's body.

http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2014/may/06/dna-evidence-eyed-in-1988-slayings/


Maybe they are making sure which DNA is his and which is the perp's and that's why they had to exhume him.

Glad to see this thread. This played this am and the weather cut out and I missed the ending. I haven't seen this case in years!!

I just found a very disturbing, yet interesting, thread on this case. I don't want to post the link, but just good Sally McNally Murder. There are lots of comments from people who knew the victims and lived in the area. There even names thrown out and about as far as suspects! One piece of information there says that the cops picked up two guys in a truck who were in possession of Sally's drivers license....but they claim they were stealing stuff from various vehicles and that's why they had it. They are both in jail for other crimes now (according to the person who wrote the information).
I hope they solve this case soon!

I hope they finally solve this case, but this episode has one of the most unintentionally funny moments when Det. Larry Crews says "there was a lot of drugs, there was groupah shex" ... guy had quite the speech pattern.

So glad that UM cases like this are still being diligently worked on by the authorities...

This case is one of a few that have more meaning to me today than they did when first aired. I was stationed in San Angelo for a while, I believe it was the summer of 2000, and went to the Lake recreation areas several times. Although I believe the fireworks by Lake Nasworthy were cancelled that year due to very low water level.

I was also stationed in Monterey, CA, so next I'm looking for an update to the Justin Burgwinkel mystery!