On a Friday in late March 1983, 16-year-old Vincent Tijerina Jr. and 14-year-old Michelle “Shelly” Colliflower went out for a date in Weatherford, Texas. Vincent was a sophomore and Shelly a freshman at Weatherford High School, two popular teenagers with their lives ahead of them. Shelly’s mother, Johnnie Nitcholas, vividly recalled her last memory of her daughter from that morning. "She got out of the car and she looked down at me and she said, 'Bye momma, I love you,'" Nitcholas said years later. That was the last time she saw Shelly alive. The young couple never came home.
The following morning, March 26, 1983, Vincent and Shelly were found dead inside a car parked near an abandoned school off Tin Top Road and Cleburne Avenue. The location was a well-known hangout spot for local teenagers, colloquially called "Piss Hill." Both Vincent and Shelly had been shot in the head.
The brutal double homicide of two well-liked high school students shocked the small Texas community, leaving a wound that has refused to heal for more than four decades. The motive for the killings remains as much a mystery today as it was then.
The Weatherford Police Department launched an immediate investigation into the murders. One of the few early clues was a cryptic, handwritten note found inside Shelly’s purse during her last period class. The note expressed a romantic obsession, stating that Shelly was too beautiful and that the writer wanted her but couldn't have her, yet one day he would. Shelly's mother believes the killer was not a stranger but someone who knew the teenagers. Despite numerous interviews and theories that have circulated through the community for years, no arrests have ever been made.
Over the decades, the case has gone cold but has never been forgotten. The Weatherford Police Department officially reopened the investigation in 2009 and again in November 2021, working with the Parker County Sheriff's Office, the Texas Rangers, and the FBI. The Attorney General's Cold Case Investigations Task Force also conducted a full review of the case. Investigators have faced significant challenges, including sifting through handwritten records from 40 years ago where witnesses were sometimes identified only by nicknames. DNA evidence has been collected and entered into the national CODIS database, but so far, no match has been found.
The families of Vincent and Shelly have lived with the unanswered questions and unresolved grief for a lifetime. Vincent's father, Vincent Tijerina Sr., wrote a letter to the local paper in 1984, pleading for anyone with information to come forward. "I plead with you, please find the courage to help one find the killer or killers. To bring them to justice," he wrote. Vincent Sr. passed away in 1986, and Vincent's mother, Carolina, died in 2022, neither ever learning who killed their son. Vincent's niece, Ashley Spellman, has continued the family's plea for answers. “Somebody knows something and please, for the sake of my family, for the sake of me, just say something,” she said.
In recent years, family and friends have increased their efforts to bring new attention to the case. A Facebook page, "Justice for Shelly and Vincent," was created to share information, and supporters have held rallies and appeared before the Weatherford City Council to request a third-party audit of the case files, hoping fresh eyes might find a new lead. Shelly's mother, Johnnie Nitcholas, has never given up. "I'll always have hope as long as I'm breathing," she said. "I have to have hope."
As of June 2026, the double homicide of Vincent Tijerina Jr. and Shelly Colliflower remains an open and active cold case investigation. No suspects have ever been publicly named or charged. Authorities continue to ask for the public's help, believing that someone in the community still holds the key to solving the decades-old crime. Anyone with information, no matter how insignificant it may seem, is urged to contact the Weatherford Police Department at 817-598-4300 or Parker County Crime Stoppers at 817-599-5555.
