Growing up, Kimberly Louiselle wanted to become a nurse. She had lots of friends, loved to dance, liked horses, horseback riding and the beach. She went missing March 20, 1982 and was found April 14, 1982. Her case went cold for almost for decades until MSU students came to solve the tragedy of Louiselle.
On March 20, 1982, Louiselle was last seen at the intersection of Eight Mile and Merriman Road in Livonia, Michigan. There, she made four phone calls around 6:30 p.m. trying to find a ride home. Though, Louiselle never made it home and her family grew worried. They searched and tracked down friends of the girl, but were unable to find any trace of Louiselle. The following day, Louiselle was reported missing to the Green Oak Township Police Department. Police asked Louiselle’s mother, Joanna Louiselle, if the girl could by chance be a runaway.
“She was not a runaway, she was on her way home, she was on her way home,” Louiselle told the police.
Weeks go by and Louiselle is still nowhere to be found. On April 14, 1982, just three weeks after Louiselle went missing, the police made a shocking discovery. A body is found in Island Lake Recreation Area just five miles from the home of the missing girl. The body belonged to no one other than Louiselle. Louiselle was found nude and had been sexually assaulted, beaten and strangled. The strange thing about this case is that reports say she has been dead for about four to five days even though she had been missing for three weeks.
Police had no leads on Louiselle’s case, making it turn cold. Though, after 41 years, Louiselle’s case caught the attention of new pairs of eyes. Students from Michigan State University who were taking part in a cold case internship at their school decided to take part in the case. The students inspected evidence boxes and files—in which one specific name grabbed their attention. Charles David Shaw.
In the year of 1983, a police report came in that Shaw was living near Louiselle and her family. In the report, it was also made known that Shaw had recently dismantled his apartment which they felt was strange. The police took note of this report, but never tracked Shaw down.
Earlier just this year, the Livingston County case investigators announced that Shaw was the suspect of the murder case of Christina Castiglione that took place in the year of 1983. Castiglione, being 19-years-old at the time, was living with her mother in Redford Township prior to her disappearance. She had been last seen between 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. on March 19 walking westbound on Five Mile Road near Lola Park located in Redford Township. Castiglione’s mother reported her missing two days after the disappearance. Seven days after the report, Castiglione’s body was found in Oak Grove State Game Area on Faussett Road located in Deerfield Township. DNA was obtained from Castliglione’s body during the investigation.
In May of last year, the DNA of Castiglione was sent to Othram Lab in Texas, the company behind DNA solves. Othram used a genealogical profile to identify leads in the case and turned that evidence over to the investigators.
“Through work and cooperation from the suspect’s family, we were able to identify beyond a doubt–who the killer was,” the investigators told the press.
Investigators began to focus on Shaw as the suspect in Louiselle’s murder. They fabricated area maps for where Shaw spent the most time–like where he lived and worked. Investigators then discovered that Shaw’s locations encircled Louiselle’s location. The detectives and MSU students gathered all evidence once more and took it to the Michigan State Police Crime Lab and asked for it to be retested. They hoped for some kind of miracle, and that miracle happened. Four months later, they had a new lead, one sperm cell. The new evidence had been among them for 40 years yet had gone unnoticed. The sperm cell was then uploaded into the system, linking them to Shaw. Investigators believe that Shaw had kidnapped Louiselle while she was walking. Police state that they are 100% certain Shaw is responsible for the death of Louiselle. Shaw was found dead in Detroit on November 27 of 1983. Medical examiner’s report lists his death as coincidental sexual asphyxiation.
