Murder of a Child in Alabama
The unsolved murder of 11-year-old Shannon Nicole Paulk.
On a warm summer day on August 16, 2001, in Prattville, Alabama Marie Stroud left her home to go to work just as she did every day leaving her two daughters behind who were still on summer vacation from school. The oldest daughter was left to babysit her younger sister, Shannon Paulk, age 11.
Shannon got up early in the morning and decided to go outside and play with her friends without telling her sister who was still asleep. When Shannon's sister awoke at 9:00 a.m. she wasn’t particularly worried about Shannon as they lived in a quiet mobile home park in a rural farming town. It wasn’t unusual for Shannon to spend the whole day away from home only to return when night fell.
Missing
When Shannon’s mother, Marie, returned home from work she expected her daughter to be home shortly. When it began to get dark and she had not returned home Marie started to worry for her daughter’s safety. By 9:00 p.m. Shannon still had not arrived home and could not be found so her mother called the police to report Shannon as missing.
The police took Marie seriously and felt Shannon had not run away from home so they immediately launched a search for the young girl. The police spoke to neighbors and searched the…
