aimefisher
07-30-2003, 01:32 PM
Warrant issued for hoaxer
THORNTOWN, Indiana (CNN) -- Authorities say the woman who called the parents of a 6-year-old girl who has been missing since 1986 was "the perpetrator of a cruel hoax."
The girl's father, Mike Sherrill, said he took the news "real hard" and broke down sobbing while talking to reporters.
"I wasn't expecting this at all. When they called me with the information that we were going to have a news conference, I thought they were going to bring Shannon in here. I thought this was something," he said before covering his face and breaking into tears.
His ex-wife, Dorothy Sherill, and several of her sisters also attended the news conference, but did not speak.
Their daughter Shannon vanished from Thorntown on October 5, 1986, after last being seen playing with friends outside her home.
The woman who called the parents claiming to be the now-grown girl has been identified as Donna L. Walker, 35, according to Indiana State Police 1st. Sgt. Dave Bursten. He said an arrest warrant has been issued for the woman whose last known address was in Topeka, Kansas.
"We are seeking help from the public across the land to look for this woman," said Bursten.
Mike Sherrill told CNN Tuesday that he has never given up hope that his daughter might still be alive because there's been "no proof she wasn't alive."
He said when the woman called him Saturday he was stunned.
"Before I talked to her, I had a million questions that I wanted to ask her, and when I got her on the phone, I just totally spaced. ... I just went blank," Sherrill said.
He said he and his ex-wife both gave their DNA samples to authorities years ago.
THORNTOWN, Indiana (CNN) -- Authorities say the woman who called the parents of a 6-year-old girl who has been missing since 1986 was "the perpetrator of a cruel hoax."
The girl's father, Mike Sherrill, said he took the news "real hard" and broke down sobbing while talking to reporters.
"I wasn't expecting this at all. When they called me with the information that we were going to have a news conference, I thought they were going to bring Shannon in here. I thought this was something," he said before covering his face and breaking into tears.
His ex-wife, Dorothy Sherill, and several of her sisters also attended the news conference, but did not speak.
Their daughter Shannon vanished from Thorntown on October 5, 1986, after last being seen playing with friends outside her home.
The woman who called the parents claiming to be the now-grown girl has been identified as Donna L. Walker, 35, according to Indiana State Police 1st. Sgt. Dave Bursten. He said an arrest warrant has been issued for the woman whose last known address was in Topeka, Kansas.
"We are seeking help from the public across the land to look for this woman," said Bursten.
Mike Sherrill told CNN Tuesday that he has never given up hope that his daughter might still be alive because there's been "no proof she wasn't alive."
He said when the woman called him Saturday he was stunned.
"Before I talked to her, I had a million questions that I wanted to ask her, and when I got her on the phone, I just totally spaced. ... I just went blank," Sherrill said.
He said he and his ex-wife both gave their DNA samples to authorities years ago.