Michigan State Police identify suspect in 1982 homicide of 16-year-old girl
(CBS DETROIT) - Michigan State Police say a suspect has been identified in the 1982 homicide of 16-year-old Kimberly Louiselle.
The teen was last seen on March 20, 1982, near Eight Mile and Merriman roads in Livonia. Her body was found almost a month later, on April 14, nearly 20 miles away from the area off a wooded trail in the Island Lake Recreation Area in Green Oak Township.
Decades later, DNA linked 26-year-old Charles David Shaw to the evidence recovered from Kimberly's body. Shaw died in 1983.
Reopening a cold case
MSP and the Livingston County Sheriff's Office led the investigation for decades but were unable to link anyone to the case.
In 2022, MSP's First District Cold Case Unit reopened the case and partnered with Michigan State University's School of Criminal Justice, according to a press release. For several months, the team of investigators and students reviewed the case, including organizing paper files and resubmitting items to MSP's Forensic Science Division.
At the time, the Livingston County Sheriff's Office was investigating the 1983 homicide of 19-year-old Christine Castiglione, of Redford, and linked the case to Shaw through forensic genealogy.
Shaw's DNA was submitted to the National Combined DNA Index System (CODIS). In June 2023, evidence from Kimberly's case was resubmitted, linking back to Shaw.
MSP believes he may have been responsible for additional crimes in the early 1970s until his death in November 1983.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Sgt. Larry Rothman at 313-407-9379.