Who Killed Shauna Maynard?

In 1998, Shauna Maynard was a 17-year-old girl chasing independence, like so many of us did at that age. She left her California home to start a new life in Las Vegas, full of ambition and rebellion, not realizing how dangerous it would turn out to be. Four and a half months later, she was found shot to death off a remote stretch of Blue Diamond Road.

Her murder has never been solved.  

Shauna’s mom, Inez, remembers her as fiercely independent, fun-loving, and—yes—challenging. She was the second of four kids and, at 17, still figuring out who she was and what she wanted. She talked about becoming a fashion designer. She loved music. She wanted more than the small-town life she’d known. But when she told her family she was heading to Las Vegas, they were nervous. Rightfully so.

Shauna cut off contact completely after leaving on New Year’s Eve, 1997. Her mom reported her as a runaway the same night, but tracking someone down in the late '90s was nothing like it is now. There was no Facebook, no cell phone tracking. Just silence. And Inez described that silence as “a living hell.”

Shauna ended up living in a cramped apartment near Las Vegas Blvd and Owens, sharing the space with two older women and at least seven children. She was working at a restaurant and babysitting for her roommates to get by. It was crowded, probably uncomfortable, and maybe even unsafe. But it was better than being homeless—and those were the choices she was left with.

In the early morning hours of April 21, 1998, Shauna called a friend. She was terrified. She said there was a problem at the apartment, that she thought someone was going to hurt her. The friend told her to run, told her to go wait at the Silver Nugget Casino nearby—she’d send a cab. But Shauna never made it.

Just after 3 a.m., two commuters spotted a body lying off the shoulder of Blue Diamond Road, about 15 miles away from where Shauna lived. It was her.

She’d been shot multiple times. She had no ID on her. No purse. No phone. Nothing except a class ring, engraved with her name—Shauna Maynard—and the name of her high school in California. That’s how the coroner identified her, and how Inez finally found out what had happened to her daughter. A call from the Clark County Coroner. Every parent’s worst nightmare.

The details of that night remain murky. Her roommates said they saw her leave the apartment alone. One said she was just going out. Another mentioned seeing her on the phone. But when police returned to that apartment, not a single one of Shauna’s belongings was there. No clothes. No bags. No sign she’d ever lived there.

So many things don’t add up. How did she end up 15 miles away, in a part of town she had no reason to be? Who was she afraid of? Why were her things missing? Who took them? And—most of all—who shot her?

Shauna was only 17. She would be 43 years old today. Her family has spent the last 27 years asking the same questions, waiting for answers. Hoping someone will talk.

If you know anything about what happened to Shauna, even something small, it could make a difference. Someone in Las Vegas knows the truth. Maybe it’s time they said it out loud.

You can contact the Las Vegas Metro Police Homicide Section at (702) 828-3521 or leave an anonymous tip at CrimeStoppersOfNV.com or 702-385-5555. Her family is still offering a reward for information leading to an arrest.

Shauna was more than the way she died. She mattered. She still does.