A Young Woman With a Future Ahead of Her
In the spring of 1986, Denise Pflum was only 18 years old, but she had already begun building a future that seemed full of possibility.
Growing up in Connersville, Indiana, Denise stood out for more than one reason. She was an accomplished athlete, a talented artist, and an excellent student who was nearing the top of her graduating class.
She had plans beyond high school, too.
Denise had been accepted to Miami University in Ohio, where she intended to study microbiology. She dreamed of becoming a scientist and using her work to make a difference in the lives of others.
To her mother, Judy Pflum, Denise had everything necessary to accomplish those goals—intelligence, determination, curiosity, and compassion.
But just days before Denise was supposed to graduate from high school, those plans suddenly disappeared with her.
A Party on Good Friday
On March 28, 1986—Good Friday—Denise went to a party at a nearby farm with friends.
Her personal life had recently entered a period of change. Denise had ended a relationship with Shawn McClung, whom she had dated for roughly three years.
After the breakup, people close to Denise noticed that she was becoming more social and spending additional time with friends.
She appeared to be moving forward with her life.
The following day, however, Denise realized that she had accidentally left her purse at the farm where the party had taken place.
She got into her cream-colored 1981 Buick Regal and left her home in Connersville to retrieve it.
She was expected to return.
She never did.
The Car on Tower Road
When Denise failed to come home, her family became increasingly worried.
Then investigators found her Buick.
The vehicle had been abandoned along Tower Road, roughly three miles from the farm where the party had taken place.
But the discovery of Denise’s car did not answer the most important question.
Where was Denise?
There was no obvious explanation for why the young woman had disappeared. Searches were conducted, leads were pursued, and people connected to Denise were questioned.
Still, there was no sign of her.
And as the days became months, the mystery surrounding her disappearance only deepened.
Thirty-Four Years Without Denise
Denise’s disappearance became one of Fayette County’s most enduring mysteries.
Her family spent decades living with uncertainty.
Investigators continued to examine leads and revisit information from the original investigation. Denise’s former boyfriend, Shawn McClung, was questioned during the investigation.
McClung denied involvement and maintained that Denise was still alive.
But without Denise’s body and without enough evidence to establish exactly what had happened to her, the case remained unresolved.
Years passed.
Then decades.
Denise’s family never stopped wanting answers.
The Case Is Reopened
More than three decades after Denise vanished, Fayette County Sheriff Joey Laughlin and Detective Chad Blaes revisited the investigation.
For investigators, the case represented one of the county’s most troubling unanswered mysteries.
They went back through old information and evidence, searching for something that might have been overlooked or understood differently with the passage of time.
Then, in 2020, the investigation took a dramatic turn.
Authorities announced that Shawn McClung had been arrested and charged in connection with Denise’s death.
According to investigators, McClung admitted that he had killed Denise in March 1986.
Authorities also indicated that his confession came while he was terminally ill.
After 34 years, investigators believed they finally knew what had happened to Denise.
But there was still one enormous piece of the puzzle missing.
Denise Was Never Found
Even after McClung’s arrest, Denise’s remains were not recovered.
She was still missing.
McClung was charged with voluntary manslaughter, but the case never reached a trial.
In September 2020, only months after the arrest, McClung died.
Because he died before the case could proceed in court, the allegations against him were never tested through a criminal trial or resolved by a jury.
That distinction remains important.
The investigation produced a confession and criminal charges, but Denise’s family was still left without her remains and without the complete picture of what happened to her.
A Future That Was Never Given a Chance
Perhaps one of the hardest parts of Denise’s story is understanding everything she had been preparing to become.
She was only 18.
She was days away from graduating.
She had been accepted to college.
She wanted to study microbiology and pursue a career in science.
There were classrooms she never entered, friendships she never made, discoveries she never had the opportunity to pursue, and a life that her family had imagined alongside her.
Instead, her future ended before it had truly begun.
To those who knew her, Denise was much more than a missing-person case.
She was a daughter.
A sister.
A friend.
A young woman with ambitions, talents, and dreams.
The Questions That Remain
The developments in 2020 brought an important piece of information to Denise’s family, but they did not answer everything.
Her remains have never been located.
And without that final discovery, questions about the exact circumstances surrounding her disappearance and death remain.
For Denise’s loved ones, the passage of time has never meant forgetting.
They have continued to remember the young woman she was before March 29, 1986—the student, athlete, artist, daughter, and aspiring scientist who believed she could make a difference.
More than three decades later, Denise’s story still carries the weight of a life interrupted.
Her family waited years for answers.
They received some of them.
But they are still waiting for the one thing that would bring the story full circle:
to finally bring Denise Pflum home.
This story is based on publicly available information and reported facts. It has been independently written and presented for informational purposes. Images, if any, belong to their respective owners.
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