Shana Jaros was an 18 year old girl who had just moved into her own apartment when she was murdered on November 1, 1995. On the night of October 31, 1995, Shana hosted a small Halloween party with some friends. Around 9:30pm, her father brought one of her younger brothers over to trick-or-treat real quick. Her father didn't notice anything out of the ordinary and left. The party ended around midnight.

One of Shana's neighbors reported hearing some scuffling around 4:46am, but did not notice anyone enter or exit the apartment around this time. Furthermore, she did not hear any screams or any other abnormal sounds.

Around 6:50am on November 1st, Shana's landlady who lived next door to the apartment noticed that Shana's door was ajar. She called out for Shana, and upon not receiving an answer, stuck her head inside to make sure everything was okay. She saw Shana's fully clothed bloody body lying on the ground, partially covered by a quilt, and ran to call the Nokomis police.

Shana had been stabbed more than fifty times in her upper chest and neck area, and her throat had been slit. Coroners estimated her time of death to be around 4am. Shana's murder was the first one in Nokomis in almost 25 years. More than 200 pieces of evidence were collected and sent for forensic analysis, but no leads were identified. Today, Shana's murder remains unsolved.

If you have any information about the 1995 murder of Shana Jaros, please contact the Illinois State Police, Zone 6 Investigations at 217-324-2515 or contact Crimestoppers at 1-800-352-0136.