Shelia Whalen was 23 when she was murdered in Lakewood, Colorado. She was found fatally stabbed in a room at the Mountain View Motel on November 7, 1981, after a date the previous evening. Investigators later linked her killing to transient killer Stephen Peter Morin.

Evidence tying Morin to Whalen included articles of her clothing that a former girlfriend found in Morin’s van, a discovery that investigators treated as strong proof of his involvement in Whalen’s sexual assault and murder. Morin used multiple aliases and had a long history of violent crimes across several states; he was eventually arrested, tried and convicted for Whalen’s murder, receiving a death sentence in Colorado at the end of 1984.

Morin was also convicted of other murders in Texas and was executed by lethal injection in Texas on March 13, 1985. Whalen’s family and the other victims’ families suffered lasting loss; details about her life beyond these facts are limited.

If anyone knew Shelia, saw her in Lakewood in November 1981, or has information about her movements before November 7, please share what is known.