Body of missing Vegas woman found in vacant dwelling
A Las Vegas woman missing since January was found dead in a vacant building on the west side, according to Las Vegas Police.
Chief of Police David Bibb confirmed this week that LVPD officers located the body of 43-year-old Shana Storey inside a dwelling near Romero Street and Taos Street on May 6.
“Officers from Las Vegas Police conducted a search of the residence and found the body of a deceased female, who was later identified by the Office of the Medical Investigator as Shana Storey,” Bibb said in a statement.
Bibb told the Optic her death is considered “suspicious,” but said it is not currently being investigated as a homicide.
“The investigators are still waiting for a cause of death and a toxicology report from OMI,” Bibb said.
Storey’s body was found in one of several buildings on a property between Romero Street and Salazar Street while an animal control officer was investigating a strong odor coming from the building around 2:30 p.m. May 6, according to a report filed by the animal control officer.
Believing that an animal carcass was decaying inside, animal control officers contacted the property owner and searched the building, but could not determine where the odor was coming from.
A “gut feeling” that something was wrong prompted the animal control officer to request LVPD’s assistance in searching the building.
Animal control officers and an LVPD officer returned to the building, and in the bathroom, the officers found a loose piece of plywood flooring. Under the plywood, they found Storey’s body wrapped in a tarp and covered with a blanket.
Storey was reported missing Jan. 18 soon after being released from the San Miguel County Detention Center. She’d been serving a jail sentence at SMCDC after pleading guilty to multiple misdemeanor traffic violations in Mora Magistrate Court.
LVPD said in January it was seeking assistance from the public because it hadn’t received much information about Storey, and that attempts to reach family members were unsuccessful. Earlier this month, Bibb told the Optic that investigators had followed several leads in the case without success.
Las Vegas Police are again asking for help from the public. Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Antonio Salazar at 505-425-7504.
