Episode #152: Beyond the Keystone - Alabama

keystonecoldcases
May 23
2 min read

In the gripping inaugural episode of Beyond the Keystone, host Melissa takes us deep into the heart of Alabama, unraveling two haunting cases that still echo through the state. First, she explores the heartbreaking 2001 abduction and murder of 11-year-old Shannon Paulk in Prattville—a case that shocked the community and remains unsolved. Then, she turns to the tragic and perplexing 1990 Tuscaloosa homicide of 18-year-old Paula Lee Ellis, a young woman whose life was cut short under mysterious and frustrating circumstances. Two lives, two stories, one unforgettable episode.

Shannon Paulk Paula Lee Ellis

Shannon Paulk

Birth: 05/08/1990 – Death: 08/16/2001 (date of abduction is listed as her date of death)

Ethnicity: Caucasian Sex: Female

Hometown: Prattville, AL

Crime Scene: Rabbit hunters found her remains on 10/6/2001 in a black plastic bag, in a wooded area on public hunting property about ten miles north of Prattville. She had been bound with rope.

Last Known Location Alive: Candlestick Mobile-Home Park

Paula Lee Ellis

Birth: 05/07/1954 – Death: 04/22/1971

Ethnicity: Caucasian Sex: Female

Hometown: Born in Birmingham, AL; the family moved to Miami, FL when Paula was 7 years old. At the time of her death, she was a student at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, AL

Crime Scene: Responding to a report of a purse in the middle of a street, police found Paula's body not far from where the purse was found. She had been strangled and presumed to have been thrown from a vehicle

Last Known Location Alive: Her dormitory at the University of Alabama. Earlier the evening of April 21, she had gone to dinner with a male acquaintance, then stopped by her brother's place to check on him, as he was grieving the loss of a female friend.