Do you know who killed Sheree Allen in 2005? On a cold January day in 2005, the discovery of the body of Sheree Allen, a 22-year-old African-American woman, initiated a homicide investigation that has since turned into a long-running cold case. A man searching for valuables in a dumpster behind a Hollywood Video store at 1605 W. 3500 South in West Valley City, Utah, on January 24, 2005, came across a heavy bag containing her remains. Allen's body had been wrapped in multiple garbage bags before being discarded in the trash bin.
An autopsy later revealed that she had been strangled. Investigators believe she may have been in the dumpster for several days before being found.
Sheree Allen, a resident of Salt Lake City and a mother to two sets of twins, was last seen alive on January 23, 2005, at the former Colonial Motel in downtown Salt Lake City. At the time of her death, she was known to be a drug addict and involved in prostitution. She was facing multiple criminal charges related to sexual solicitation. Her family believes that she may have trusted the wrong person, which led to her death. Her brother, Adrian Allen, expressed the family's pain, stating, "To be dumped into a trash can, I think that's the lowest part of all — that you treat her like trash."
The investigation into Sheree Allen's murder has yet to result in any arrests or charges being filed. A person of interest was identified as Carl “Big Smooth” Swanigan, who was believed to be her pimp and was the last person known to have seen her alive. Swanigan provided an initial statement to the police but refused to cooperate in the following years. He passed away in 2014, taking any potential information with him. Over the years, leads in the case have dried up, and the West Valley City Police Department has repeatedly appealed to the public for any new information that could help solve the case and bring some measure of peace to her family. Her mother, Lillie Allen, continues to search for answers in her daughter's unsolved murder.
