Shawn Lynette Johnson, 36, was reported missing from Deer Park on October 17, 1997. Her body was found on December 18, 1997, by utility workers in a remote area in the 12600 block of South Hangman Valley Road near a sewage treatment plant in Spokane. An autopsy determined the cause of death was a gunshot wound.

Johnson had a history of arrests for drug offenses and trafficking in stolen property and was known to associate with women involved in prostitution and to frequent areas of Spokane linked to drug and sex trades. Friends and family said she had once worked in a hospital laboratory but left after an arm injury and later struggled with a painkiller addiction. Investigators assigned her case to a special task force handling a string of murders in the Spokane area.

A suspect later confessed to Johnson’s killing, saying she had been shot twice and that plastic bags had been placed over her head. Does anyone have information about Johnson’s life in Deer Park or her movements in October and December 1997?