Shivangi Sinha
When Lisa Marto disappeared from her husband’s house, many assumed she had run away with another man with whom she was romantically involved. Lisa had left behind her husband, Lawrence Gaudenzi, and their baby daughter, Shelby. It was through the persistence of Lisa’s family that the police caught up with Lawrence and found substantial evidence incriminating him as the killer. For Shelby, who had lived her entire life with her father and believed her mother had abandoned her, it wasn’t easy to come to terms with the truth. In A&E’s ‘Cold Case Files’ episode ‘Vanished in Virginia,’ Shelby, aka Logan Derenzo, shares her story, discussing her life and how she has dealt with the challenges that life has thrown at her.
Logan Evans Derenzo Believes Her Father to be Guilty
Logan Evans Derenzo was born to Lawrence Gaudenzi and Lisa Marto in 1992, and they named her Shelby Marie Marto. In 1995, when Shelby was just three years old, her mother disappeared, and the family she had in Virginia fell apart. A few months later, when the police asked Lawrence to take a polygraph test, he fled to Harrisonburg, Virginia. Lawrence assumed the identity of Randy Lee Evans and met a woman named Linda May. He also changed Shelby’s name to Logan Evans Derenzo.
Linda raised Logan as her daughter, and the latter recalled that for the longest time, she was angry at Lisa for leaving her behind, as her father had told her. She also mentioned that Linda had been an extraordinarily loving and caring figure in her life, which contrasted sharply with the father she knew. She shared an incident from when she was about five or six years old: she had taken some scissors and cut her hair very short. When her father saw her, he became extremely angry and was fuming at the sight of her. She said it was the first time she recalled seeing her father that furious, and from then on, she had been terrified of him.
When Lawrence was arrested in 2002 for forgery, Logan was too young to understand the situation. However, by 2008, he had been convicted of Lisa’s murder. Logan shared that although her father claimed his innocence, insisting it was a freak accident that killed her mother, she did not believe him. Having witnessed enough of her father’s anger, she found it plausible that he could be a killer. She expressed her sorrow at not remembering much about her mother and wished she had had the opportunity to know her. She blamed her father for taking that chance away from her.
Logan Evans Derenzo is an Independent Consultant Today
Logan Evans Derenzo thrives as an Independent Consultant for Mary Kay, a health and wellness brand. She takes great joy in her work. Logan has previously held various positions, such as sales associate at Pier 1, which has given her the confidence to embrace her current role with enthusiasm. She has been studying Criminal Justice at Salem University since 2014 to improve her prospects and professional skills further.
Overcoming numerous obstacles, Logan’s journey has not been easy. She revealed that she struggled with substance dependency and, to reclaim her life and overcome the associated shame, she joined a rehab program in May 2016. Logan has consistently shared updates on her journey to sobriety, acknowledging the challenges but affirming her commitment to this positive path.
Logan Evans Derenzo’s Family is Her Biggest Strength
Logan, who now goes by the name Logan M M Derenzo, has shared that life knocked her down, but her family picked her up. The family she refers to includes her stepmother, Linda May (now Thompson), and her stepsister, Karen Thompson. In them, she has found her true family. With their support and encouragement, Logan even visited her father, Lawrence Gaudenzi, in prison in 2014. She has celebrated various milestones with them, and in April 2017, she welcomed her bundle of joy, Austyn Adaline, into the world. Motherhood has been a transformative journey for Logan. Her mother, sister, and closest friends form a community around her that nourishes, protects, and strengthens her daily.
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