Shivangi Sinha
In September 2011, Shawndell McLeod failed to show up at her workplace. Her family and coworkers contacted the police. Though they had their suspicions, there was no major evidence in the case. It was only in 2018 when the police got in touch with a woman named Katie Long from Florida that they got more information on the case and what happened to Shawndell. Netflix’s ‘Worst Ex Ever’ season 2, particularly the episode ‘A Fatal Attraction,’ details the case and how it was ultimately solved through the dedication of a police officer who refused to give up.
Shawndell McLeod Was Reported Missing When She Missed Work and a Family Dinner
Shawndell McLeod was born in Guyana and spent most of her childhood there. She was 13 years old when she moved to the US with her family. Her mother, Badicea McLeod, worked very hard and settled her family down in Georgia. Shawndell herself settled down in Lithonia, Georgia, in a home of her own. She worked as a cook at the Life Care Center of Gwinnett, a nursing home in Lawrenceville, Georgia. Even though it was hard work, she enjoyed it a lot and did not mind the early hours.
On the morning of September 25, 2011, Shawndell did not show up for her shift at 5 am. She was generally the first person to open the kitchen and a few hours later, when another coworker arrived, they noticed that the door to the kitchen was open, but Shawndell was nowhere. She was last seen leaving her house for work in the morning. In the evening, she did not arrive for a family dinner as well and her family knew something was amiss. She was not the kind of person who would not give word to her family and coworkers, and they knew something was wrong. They reported her missing, but there was no evidence that led them anywhere. Her remains have not been found, but she is believed to have passed away from a violent homicide.
Shawndell McLeod’s Killer Had Broken Up With Her Weeks Before the Incident
At the time when Shawndell McLeod went missing, the police inquired about her life to know if there was any possible threat to her. They found out that she had recently ended a relationship with Joyce Pelzer, which had been quite turbulent. In fact, the two of them had bought the house when they were together, but when Shawndell ended the relationship, Joyce had moved out with all the things in the house, from light furniture to the bed to every smallest thing. It went on to show that the breakup had not been cordial or mutual. In fact, Shawndell had allegedly also called the police a few weeks after the breakup and reported that Joyce was in her home and refusing to leave.
Shawndell had borrowed a gun from a friend, which she kept in her home and she told her friend it was for self-protection. Her family told the police that Joyce was allegedly abusive and the relationship was not good for Shawndell. A few days later, the police found her car behind an abandoned house near Cleveland Avenue and a man was driving it. He fled the scene when the police approached, but he was not believed to be the one linked to the crime. On September 29, 2011, Joyce was called in for an interview.
Joyce said that she had not met Shawndell for a long time. In fact, she claimed that she had been with her then-girlfriend, Rosalyn Lewis, on the night. The latter also said that Joyce had spent the time with her and could not be involved in the disappearance at all. The police had no other evidence to tie her to the case and had to let her go. The case went cold as no new leads emerged, but one detective named Henry Guest kept a tab on Joyce as she moved on in life.
Shawndell McLeod’s Killer Was Arrrested After They Killed Another Woman
In August 2018, Henry Guest got in touch with Katie Long, Joyce’s new girlfriend, and asked her about Shawndell. She told them that Joyce had, in fact, confessed to her that she had hired a hitman who had abducted Shawndell as she was on her way to work. She also told the police that Joyce had confessed that they had held Shawndell hostage for a couple of days, dug a hole, and then tased her until she fell into it and covered the hole. The police asked her to record her conversations with Joyce for proof, but other events followed. On December 10, 2018, the police arrested Joyce for the murder of Rosalyn Lewis, whom she was in the middle of divorcing at the time.
Joyce was questioned about Shawndell’s missing case, and she reportedly told the investigators that it was Rosalyn who had allegedly killed her, and she was merely an accomplice who had helped her. But based on her confession to Katie Long, the detectives believed it to be untrue. The police also tracked her phone records around the time that Shawndell had disappeared and found out that she was not at the house with Rosalyn as she had claimed initially and it crumbled her false alibi. She also reportedly admitted that Shawndell’s remains were buried in a ravine in Arabia Mountain, but the remains could never be found. In December 2023, Joyce was found guilty of malice murder and felony murder and was handed down another life sentence.
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