Name: Shelley Kathleen Sikes
Case Classification: Endangered Missing
Missing Since: May 24, 1986
Location Last Seen: Galveston, Galveston County, Texas
Date of Birth: September 2, 1966
Age: 19 years old
Race: White
Gender: Female
Height: 4'11 - 5'0"
Weight: 90 - 100 lbs
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Brown
Nickname/Alias: Unknown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Petite stature; 1/2 inch long by 3/4 wide scar on her right knee; she is not able to bend her right index finger
Dentals: Unknown
Fingerprints: Unknown
DNA: Unknown
Clothing: Unknown
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Unknown
Sikes, a 19-year-old University of Texas student who was home for the summer, was last seen just before midnight May 24, 1986, when she left her job as a waitress at Gaido's beach-front restaurant in Galveston.
Her car was found about 2 the next morning, stuck in deep mud along an Interstate 45 access road just south of the Galveston causeway. The driver's window was broken, and blood was spattered on the door and driver's seat. Despite an intensive search, Sikes was never found.
Authorities got a break in the case in June 1987 when John Robert King telephoned El Paso police from a motel in that city to report his attempted suicide and confessed to kidnapping Sikes and burying her body.
King said he and a friend, Gerald Peter Zwarst had been high on drugs when they ran Sikes' car off the road and abducted her.
King later reneged on an offer to tell police where the body was buried. Both men have blamed each other for Sikes' death and admitted burying the body near King's home. King and Zwarst were convicted of aggravated kidnapping in 1988 and sentenced to life in prison. Zwarst was offered immunity from a murder charge in 1990 if he would help find Sikes' body. Under hypnosis he drew a map of a field in San Leon, where he said he last saw Sikes, but her body was not found. Both Zwarst and King died in prison.
Authorities uncovered a white blouse during the search. Lab tests could not prove it belonged to Sikes, but her family is convinced the petite, handmade blouse was hers as she was known to have made most of her clothing. The case remains open and foul play is suspected.
Agency Name: Galveston County Sheriff's Office
Agency Contact Person: Investigator Tommy Hansen
Agency Phone Number: 409-766-2322
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: 596-48911
Agency Name: Texas Department Of Public Safety
Agency Contact Person: Missing Persons Clearinghouse
Agency Phone Number: 512-424-5074
Agency E-Mail: mpch@dps.texas.gov
Agency Case Number: M8606005
NamUs Case Number: 8604
NCIC Case Number: M-199085895
NamUs
Texas Department of Public Safety
The Daily News - March 26, 2021
KHOU
Added: Prior to 2011; Last Updated: 10-26-2022 - By: hwa
Questions or comments? Please contact appropriate member of the Area Team
** Listed information is from the time of disappearance.
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