Nearly eight years after Brittany Shank vanished into the fog along Fawn River Road, FBI agents and St. Joseph County sheriff's deputies spent this week combing rural Leonidas Township. The search was tied to a new tip investigators are working to verify, and officials stressed it has not produced any confirmed breakthroughs.
Shank was 23 when she disappeared on the night of November 30, 2018, according to MLive, which reported that police and FBI agents were following up on information potentially connected to her case. A nearby resident called 911 at approximately 8:51 p.m. that night after Shank crashed her car into a ditch during thick fog near Fawn River Road in Fawn River Township, then approached the resident barefoot and coatless, her arms and feet bleeding, and went back outside before police arrived, according to Wilcox Newspapers. She had left her grandmother's house shortly before the crash.
Witnesses and family told investigators Shank had been with an unidentified man earlier that night, described as 5 feet 6 inches to 5 feet 8 inches tall, in his early to mid-20s, with short blonde hair and mutton-chop sideburns, per the Western Michigan University Cold Case Program. Law enforcement considers him a person of interest.
A Six-Year Wait for the 911 Call and Sketch
In October 2024, nearly six years after Shank disappeared, the St. Joseph County Sheriff's Office released two pieces of evidence: audio of the 8:51 p.m. 911 call from the resident who tried to help her, and a composite sketch of the unidentified male companion, according to WZZM 13. The station's report said the materials were newly public and released in hopes of generating new tips.
Jennifer Runyan said every available resource matters when someone is missing, and that the FBI provides technical expertise and resources to support both the search and the families awaiting answers, per the same MLive account. The FBI's Detroit Field Office is assisting the sheriff's office, with personnel including members of its Evidence Response Team supporting the search efforts.
Family Pushes for Homicide Classification
In the past couple of years, Shank's family asked law enforcement to reclassify her disappearance as a homicide investigation, but the sheriff's office has maintained it as an active missing persons case, the Wilcox Newspapers report states. The differing positions underscore the gap between the family's request and the sheriff's continued handling of the case as a missing-person investigation.
The case took on new structure in January 2023, when the sheriff's office partnered with the Western Michigan University Cold Case Program. Student researchers spent hundreds of hours digitizing and analyzing a file containing records on more than 1,000 individuals of interest and leads, according to WTVB.
New Detectives, Wider Searches Across State Lines
Following administrative shifts that brought Sheriff Chad Spence into office, the sheriff's office reassigned the case to two new lead detectives and carried out extensive searches across Michigan and Indiana using drones, ground-penetrating radar, cadaver dogs, dive rescue teams and mounted units, per Missing People in America. Family members and advocates have called for investigative changes.
The investigation has drawn a multi-jurisdictional response involving the Michigan State Police, Sturgis Department of Public Safety, Branch County Sheriff's Office, Three Rivers Police, Indiana State Police and LaGrange County Sheriff's Office, WTVB reported. The FBI joined the sheriff's office and Michigan State Police as an active assisting partner in late 2025, bringing specialized resources to evaluate cold case leads, according to WWMT.
This week's search in Leonidas Township, a rural, agricultural stretch of northern St. Joseph County, was meant to vet the newly received tip, but officials emphasized it did not confirm any immediate breakthroughs. The case remains an active missing-person investigation.
Anyone with information about Shank's disappearance is encouraged to contact the St. Joseph County Sheriff's Office.
