True Life Tuesday: Shawn Moore

Here is another case that really effected me personally. I was 9 years old and remember clearly being scared that this same thing could happen to me. Almost 40 years ago Livingston county was very small and rural and things like this did not happen there. 

Shawn Moore was born on June 30, 1972. Shawn was described as a blonde hair kid with a broad smile who loved playing sports, riding his bike, having fun with his friends. He was also an animal lover and environmentalist before it was cool. 

Shawn was 13 years old when he was kidnapped and murdered on September 1, 1985. He was snatched while riding his bike to the store to get a pop near his home in Green Oak Township, Michigan. His body was found on 9/13/1985 in Gladwin, Michigan - about 130 miles north of his home.

Around 3:45pm om 8/31/1985 Shawn left his home to go to the store. Witnesses reported seeing a Jeep pull over on the side of the road. The driver exited the vehicle and pulled Shawn inside. Ronald Bailey, 26, was very quickly identified as a suspect. A lineup was done but a witness was unable to pick out Bailey. However he felt the heat and quickly left for Florida.

Shawn's body was found at the cabin that Bailey's girlfriends family owned. He was found in Florida on September 14, 1985 and brought back to Michigan. He confessed to kidnapping Shawn, taking him to the cabin, molesting him and then strangling him with a belt. He stated that when he saw Shawn he could not resist his impulse and had to take him. He also stated that when he was killing Shawn he felt like he was actually killing himself. He would eventually plead not guilty by reason of insanity. He also confessed to the murder of Kenny Meyers in 1984. At 16 he was committed to the Northville Psychiatric Hospital after he kidnapped, drugged and molested a 12 year old boy and leaving him for dead. 

Bailey went to trial in September 1986 and was convicted and sentenced to life in prison in with no parole. He was also convicted of the murder of Kenny Myers in December 1986. He was originally sent to a federal prison in Texas due to the publicity of the trial and hatred of child molesters in the prison system. He has since been returned to Michigan and is currently serving his sentence at the Bellamy Creek Correction Facility in Ionia.

In the aftermath of the murder Shawn's parents, Sharon and Bud, managed to defy the odds and stay together. Bud passed away in January 2011 and Sharon followed him that November. They spoke about the case many times on several of the anniversaries.

This case has been called "the case that ended Livingston County's innocence" and on that I would agree.