In the summer of 1993, a ten-year-old girl named Shakeima Ann Cabbagestalk disappeared from her life in Dillon, South Carolina, leaving behind a community and family searching for answers. On the evening of July 22nd, Shakeima was reportedly in the company of her stepfather, Sam Harmon. According to Harmon, he took both Shakeima and her seven-year-old brother to the Turning Point Grocery on South First Avenue and left them in the parking lot.
From that point on, Shakeima was never seen or heard from again. At the time she vanished, she was a fifth-grade student at Gordon Elementary School. She was described as being 3 feet 6 inches tall and weighing 65 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. Distinctive features included moles near the corner of her mouth and on her chest, as well as a double tooth on the upper side of her mouth. The last clothes she was known to be wearing were a white shirt with a design on the front, multicolored shorts, and pearl earrings.
The investigation into Shakeima's disappearance was complicated by a troubling family history that had emerged the year before she went missing. In 1992, Shakeima had accused her stepfather, Sam Harmon, of touching her inappropriately. The South Carolina Department of Social Services investigated these claims, but due to a lack of evidence and because Shakeima's story reportedly changed several times, no charges were filed against him. This prior accusation would later become a focal point for investigators, who theorized it may have provided a motive for her disappearance. For more than a decade, Shakeima's case grew cold, with no significant leads to follow. The silence was finally broken in August 2005, twelve years after she was last seen, when Sam Harmon was arrested and charged with murder, two counts of kidnapping, and criminal sexual conduct with a minor in connection with his stepdaughter's case.
The subsequent legal proceedings brought some details to light but offered no definitive closure for Shakeima's loved ones. During Harmon's trial in October 2008, prosecutors, who had initially sought the death penalty before opting to pursue a life sentence, presented their case. They dropped the criminal sexual conduct charge. Shakeima’s uncle testified that just two weeks before she disappeared, Harmon had discussed with him various ways to dispose of a dead body. Prosecutors argued that Shakeima was very close to her grandmother and brother and would have surely contacted them if she were able to. Despite the circumstantial evidence and testimony, there was no physical evidence to prove that Shakeima was deceased. Ultimately, the jury acquitted Sam Harmon of murder but found him guilty of kidnapping. He was sentenced to twelve years in prison, with credit for time served, and has since been released. To this day, Harmon maintains his innocence in Shakeima’s disappearance. The case officially remains unsolved; while investigators suspect foul play, some of Shakeima’s relatives hold onto the hope that she may still be alive.Last Seen: Jul 22, 1993
