In the summer of 1992, a young girl named Shanta Marie Johnson vanished, leaving behind a story filled with troubling questions and few answers. Her foster mother, Susan Marie Johnson, reported that three-year-old Shanta disappeared on July 19, 1992, from the Briarcliffe Mall in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. According to Susan's account, the little girl went missing near the toy department of the K-Mart store inside the shopping center at about 3:30 in the afternoon.
Shanta was described as wearing a navy blue t-shirt adorned with a Mickey Mouse cartoon, white shorts, and white sneakers with blue trim and rabbit designs. This report from her foster mother, who along with her husband was in the process of adopting Shanta and her younger brother, set off an investigation into the disappearance of the young child.
However, the official account of Shanta's disappearance soon came under scrutiny as investigators reviewed the K-Mart's surveillance tapes. The footage showed Susan entering the store alone; there was no sign of Shanta on any of the tapes, casting serious doubt on the story that she had vanished from the mall. This inconsistency shifted the focus of the investigation. Authorities began to believe that Shanta may have never even been in Myrtle Beach on the day she was reported missing. Shanta's biological mother was incarcerated at the time and could not provide any useful information to the police. Investigators also looked into Shanta's biological relatives, who were having a family reunion in Myrtle Beach that same weekend, but they were all eventually cleared as suspects in her disappearance. The day after Shanta was reported missing, the Department of Social Services removed her younger brother from the Johnson home, and he was later adopted by another family.
As the investigation deepened, a more disturbing picture of Shanta's life began to emerge. Concerns of abuse had been noted prior to her disappearance. A month before she went missing, a hospital nurse had filed a report describing Shanta as behaving fearfully and having marks on her body indicative of abuse. Doctors at Duke University Medical Center also observed bruises, scratches, and a significant change in her demeanor from outgoing to fearful. Shanta's babysitter also reported seeing severe burns on the child's buttocks, which Shanta said were caused by her foster mother with hot grease, though Susan claimed it was a sunburn. In July 1995, three years after she vanished, Susan Johnson was charged with abusing Shanta. Investigators later searched a property owned by the Johnsons and found unspecified evidence linked to the little girl. Authorities have stated their belief that Shanta was the victim of a premeditated homicide and consider her foster mother to be the prime suspect. They theorize that her body may have been buried on the property at one time before being moved. Despite the suspicions and the ongoing investigation, Shanta's case remains unsolved, a lingering and sorrowful mystery.Last Seen: Jul 19, 1992
