The Missing
Janet Marie and Marisa Alexandria Shuglie
Somerset, Pennsylvania
35 year old Janet Shuglie and her 10 year old daughter Marisa Shuglie were last seen on the morning of either June 29th or June 30th, 1985 in Somerset Pennsylvania walking on Route 985. They were walking away from the Coleman Motel down the road where she and her family were staying. She had an argument with her husband Frank, about Marisa. It was reported by Janets two young sons that Janet spit in her husband’s face, and he retaliated by slapping her. Janet then took Marisa and left the motel. The two walked across the highway to a car dealership named Dan’s Auto Sales, where Janet told the business owner Dan Slagle that she was looking for a ride to Pittsburgh, where she had family living. The owner attempted to use a CB Radio to get her a ride, but ultimately was unable to find one for her. She instead decided they would walk to meet with their local priest, Reverend Samuel Tomaselli at St Peter’s Roman Catholic Church, who Janet already had plans to see on the morning of her disappearance. This was a common occurrence. She and Marisa walked off towards the Pennsylvania turnpike interchange. They’ve never been seen again. Janet is listed as a white female with brown hair and brown eyes, standing at 5’2” – 5’4” and weighing 110 lbs at the time. Marisa is listed as a white female with brown hair and green eyes, standing at around 5 ft tall and weighing around 90 lbs at the time.
The wo young sons, Josh and Chris told police that later that same day, their father supposedly went out to look for Janet and Marisa, but he didn’t come back to their motel room until late that night, and they mentioned his clothes were muddy.
Suspiciously, the very next day, Frank thoroughly cleaned the motel room and even went so far as to wash the walls. He then checked out and took his sons to Jeanette, PA where he was originally from. After a few days of being there, Frank and the boys moved into an apartment in Pittsburgh. Frank reported his wife missing on either July 2nd or 3rd, 1985. It was said that between then and August 10th, Frank was contacting women’s shelters, the salvation army, local news media outlets, the Pittsburgh police, the FBI and even the CIA, asking for help in locating Janet and Marisa. He claims to have been angry with Janet’s aunt and uncle, and he thought they were hiding his wife and daughter from him. On August 31, Frank asked two random fishermen if they would kill Janet, injure her aunt and uncle and kidnap Marisa for $2,000 each and round-trip tickets to Hawaii. The two men played along and agreed with the plan, and met with him a few times to discuss it, but unbeknownst to Frank, the men had notified law enforcement.
The fishermen introduced Frank to two undercover officers acting as potential hitmen, and they were able to record the conversations they had with him.
Frank was charged with five counts of criminal solicitation to commit murder in 1986. He spent the next 16 years in prison. It was determined that Frank had paranoid schizophrenia with an “extreme persecution complex.” According to police, Frank seemed to be living in his own fantasy land. “He Dwells on things and turns fantasy in his own mind into facts. He told people he is an airline pilot. He has no connection with airlines.”
During his stay in prison, three inmates came forward and said that Frank bragged about “getting rid” of Janet and Marisa. Frank also asked if he could be prosecuted for murder if the bodies were never found. One inmate even claimed that Frank offered him $200 to prevent another inmate from testifying against him in court. That inmate did end up refusing to testify after his cheek bone was broken.
There are theories that Frank had killed his wife and daughter and attempted to hire hitmen to make it seem like he thought they were still alive at the time. A ploy to take suspicion off of himself and onto someone else. Frank remains the prime suspect.
In 2019, Janet’s Penn Joint Junior High School class ring was turned over to police. A family had found it more than 20 years earlier and after they tried to find the ring’s owner, they discovered it belonged to a missing person and brought it to authorities.
The police have not disclosed the location where the ring was found, but this brings hope of movement in the case, getting closer to finding answers.
The boys, Josh and Chris, were unfortunately tossed into the foster care system after their father was put away. They grew up troubled, and to this day are still wondering what happened to their sister and mom.
If you have any further information, please contact the Pennsylvania State Police at 814-445-4104.
Sources:
https://uncovered.com/cases/janet-shuglie
https://namus.nij.ojp.gov/case/MP77906
https://namus.nij.ojp.gov/case/MP42338
https://www.wtae.com/article/class-ring-provides-latest-clue-in-decades-old-cold-case/28267186 https://www.thetelegraph.com/news/article/Class-ring-provides-new-clue-in-decades-old-cold-14069601.php
The Lost & The Taken 
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