A woman apparently walked away from a car crash in LaSalle County that killed her husband early Sunday, then vanished amid the snowy fields.
About 50 people, two dogs and a fixed-wing plane spent Monday combing rural Brookfield Township for Tanya Shannon, a mother of four from Ransom, a town of about 400 people nearly 50 miles southwest of Joliet. Shannon, 40, was last seen wearing a floor-length red ball gown and a gray fleece hooded jacket as she and her husband left a holiday party.
Police ended their search late Monday with no sign of Shannon and plan to resume and expand the search Tuesday morning, LaSalle County Sheriff Tom Templeton said.
Authorities hope Shannon is alive, while also acknowledging the harsh winter elements. LaSalle County was blanketed with nearly 7 inches over the weekend, and temperatures dipped into the teens by Monday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.
“We were told from the family she was an extremely loving mother,” Templeton said. “For her to (just leave with no warning) would be incredibly out of character. To be out in the elements as they were that night, dressed only as she was, it’s very doubtful that you can survive terribly long.”
At 1:45 a.m. Sunday, police on patrol found Shannon’s husband, Dale Shannon, 41, dead behind the wheel in a one-vehicle crash on the Grand Ridge Mazon Blacktop between East 26th and East 27th roads. A relative said police told the family the car had spun out. The rear of the car hit a pole, reportedly breaking Dale Shannon’s back.
Authorities found footprints in the snow leading from the car to a nearby road that likely belonged to Tanya Shannon. Police say she is white, 5 feet 2 inches tall and 125 pounds, with shoulder-length strawberry blond hair and green eyes. She wears glasses.
Police did not find any winter gear, including a coat, inside the vehicle, Templeton said. The crash site is remote, he added. A nuclear power plant is nearby to the north, but the remaining land is flat farmland.
“It’s very mysterious what might have happened to Tanya,” said Dale Shannon’s sister, Donna Baker. “We checked the area hospitals and nothing, so we don’t know if someone picked her up and took her somewhere. We just don’t know.”
Templeton said authorities are stumped.
“Anything that’s even remotely close has been gone over several times,” Templeton said, adding that he’s never seen a case like this in his 12 years as sheriff. “It’s a mystery.”
Police aren’t ruling out that Tanya Shannon might have been picked up.
“We can’t say she wasn’t,” Templeton said. “If she was, then the question is, then why aren’t you contacting your family?”
The Shannons, who were married 20 years, were on their way home from a holiday party in Streator, about 17 miles west of Ransom, Baker said.
“They were dancing together, really cutting up a rug,” said Baker, who was at the party. “Both left the party arm in arm.”
Baker said the car was Tanya Shannon’s, but her husband was driving. She said her brother was sober and often took precautions when he and his wife went out.
Dale Shannon was a diesel mechanic, and his wife is a part-time waitress, Baker said.
Meanwhile, a neighbor has started a collection for Shannon’s four daughters, ages 4 to 15. David Kerley, who lives across the street from the Shannons, is asking people to donate money, clothing and Christmas gifts at Jerry’s Tap, 119 N. Lincoln St. The local tavern also serves as a grocery, where residents buy everything from homemade pizza to fruit and candy, manager Maranda Trainor said.
“I just know that with Christmas and everything coming up, it’s a hard time on their family right now,” said Kerley, who has two young children who play with the Shannon girls.
Kristen Schorsch is a Tribune reporter. Pat Curry is a WGN-TV assignment editor.
