Little Lost Angel
Michael Quinlan · Gallery Books
A book-length account for readers who want more detail.
1992–2019 · Indiana, United States
Melinda Loveless
The murder of 12-year-old Shanda Sharer
Twelve-year-old Shanda Sharer was abducted, tortured, and killed by four teenage girls in Indiana in January 1992. Melinda Loveless directed the attack amid jealousy over a relationship. The girls set Shanda on fire after hours of abuse. All four were prosecuted, and the killing drew national attention to extreme violence among teenagers.
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The Story
When1992–2019
WhereIndiana, United States
In this collection41 resources
Start here.
Choose a book, screen story or audio episode from this case’s collection.
The 1990s: The Deadliest Decade — The New Girl
Investigation Discovery · Season 1, episode 2 · 2018
A documentary perspective to explore alongside the written sources.
Rotten Mango — the Shanda Sharer case
Rotten Mango · Episode 75
An audio option for exploring this case while listening.
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Where are they now?
1 itemsAbout these sources
Dated updates, not live custody records. Check the source date before treating information as current.
WDRB · September 5, 2019
Melinda Loveless — released from prison in 2019
WDRB reported that Loveless was released on September 5, 2019. This is the last verified status used here; her present living arrangements and current supervision status have not been verified.
Entry updated:
Dated Case UpdateAccess Varies · Check Source
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Nicknames & media names
1 itemsMedia title · Rotten Mango episode 75
The Mean Girls Killers
A label used by this podcast for the group involved in Shanda Sharer’s murder. Included as an attributed media title, not a formal or universally used nickname for Loveless.
ReferenceAccess Varies · Check Source
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Family Tree
The family relationships behind the story, gathered in one place.
Selected relationships only—not a complete genealogy. A family connection does not imply involvement in a crime.
FAMILY SNAPSHOT
Parents
- Stephen Sharer
- Jacqueline “Jacque” Vaught
Shanda Sharer
The source also spells her father’s name Steven. This branch represents Shanda’s family, not the perpetrators.
Sources & Further Reading
About These Family Trees
These original diagrams summarize relationships reported by the linked sources. Community genealogy sites can contain errors and are not proof of identity or parentage. Full trees or record images may require an account. We omit speculative relationships, private contact details and unrelated living descendants.
Sources reviewed September 15, 2026. Suggest a sourced correction.
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Blogs & Essays
Read our articles here and explore outside perspectives, credited to their writers and publications. See this case in the Journal →
From the journal
1 itemsUnforgotten Casebook
Remembering Shanda Sharer: reading the case
An introduction to the records and coverage, with Shanda’s name at the center.
Original EssayFree · Read Here
Read here
Shanda Sharer was 12 when she was murdered in Indiana on January 11, 1992. Melinda Loveless was one of four teenagers convicted in connection with her death. This archive keeps the overview non-graphic and brings together sources for readers who want to understand the case.
The official 2008 Indiana Court of Appeals opinion, linked in Court records & documents, records Loveless’s guilty pleas to murder, arson, and criminal confinement and examines her later challenge to the proceedings. A court opinion answers particular legal questions; it is not a complete biography of Shanda or a full collection of trial evidence.
Michael Quinlan’s Little Lost Angel offers a book-length account. The documentary and podcast provide other ways into the story, but their narration and media labels should be read alongside the records. The nickname section attributes the podcast’s title so readers can recognize it without treating it as a legal designation.
For the later history, WDRB’s September 5, 2019 report confirms Loveless’s release from prison. The dated Where are they now? entry links that reporting and makes the limits of our current verification clear. Shanda’s death remains the central loss behind these proceedings and accounts.
Open full article →Blogs & essays
2 itemsAbout these sources
Outside essays and reading guides reflect their authors’ perspectives. Compare claims with reported and primary sources.
Medium · Tftunderworld · Blog / essay
Lured To Her Death: The Heartbreaking Abduction And Brutal Murder Of Shanda Sharer
An outside blog or essay discussing Melinda Loveless. Read the author’s analysis alongside the dated reporting and court sources in this case guide. Some publishers require a subscription. Publisher access could not be checked directly; this article is indexed in search.
Outside CommentaryAccess Varies · Check Source
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Talk Murder With Me · Blog / essay
The Murder of Shanda Sharer
An outside blog or essay discussing Melinda Loveless. Read the author’s analysis alongside the dated reporting and court sources in this case guide. Some publishers require a subscription.
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Books
CONTINUE YOUR READING
Search this case on Amazon · paid linkSearch results may include unrelated titles. Check the author, edition, and case connection before purchasing.
Explore Reading & Streaming Options · Our case guides are free.
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Books
2 itemsMichael Quinlan · Gallery Books
Little Lost Angel
A nonfiction account of Shanda Sharer’s murder by journalist Michael Quinlan. The publisher page provides edition details and retailer options. Contains disturbing material.
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View on Amazon · paid linkExplore this book
Paperback · Check current price and availability on Amazon.
Aphrodite Jones
Cruel Sacrifice
A nonfiction account of Shanda Sharer’s murder, identified in The Lineup’s reading guide. Contains disturbing descriptions of violence against a child. The source link is a recommendation article; Amazon searches this title and author.
BookAccess Varies · Check Source
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Paperback · Check current price and availability on Amazon.
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Movies & TV
Movies
No reviewed items have been added to this section yet.
TV & documentaries
4 itemsAbout these sources
Episodes, documentaries and title listings. Season and episode numbers follow the linked catalog and can differ by service. Air dates are separate from crime dates. Playback availability varies by service and region.
Investigation Discovery · Season 1, episode 2 · 2018
The 1990s: The Deadliest Decade — The New Girl
A documentary episode about the Indiana case. View the official series listing for episode information; availability depends on your region and service.
DocumentaryAccess Varies · Check Source
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Search Amazon · paid linkViewing options & episode details
Title search; Amazon availability is not confirmed. Check the edition, format, and viewing region.
Tubi · S2 E13 on this platform
Killer Kids — Jealousy
Nonfiction screen coverage of this case. The linked page identifies the program or episode; playback, subscriptions, and regional availability vary.
Screen TitleAccess Varies · Check Source
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Search Amazon · paid linkViewing options & episode details
Title search; Amazon availability is not confirmed. Check the edition, format, and viewing region.
IMDb · TV episode
Deadly Women — Thrill Killers (2008)
IMDb episode reference connected to the Melinda Loveless case. Listed release: 2008. Cast, credits, and title information; viewing availability is separate.
Screen TitleTitle Details · Not Playback
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Search Amazon · paid linkCredits & title details on IMDb
Title search; Amazon availability is not confirmed. Check the edition, format, and viewing region.
Investigation Discovery · Season 2, Episode 3 · Listed air date 2024-04-08
Mean Girl Murders — Girls in the Hoods
IMDb episode reference connected to the Melinda Loveless case. Listed release: 2024. Cast, credits, and title information; viewing availability is separate. Includes coverage of Melinda Loveless.
Screen TitleTitle Details · Not Playback
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Search Amazon · paid linkCredits & title details on IMDb
Title search; Amazon availability is not confirmed. Check the edition, format, and viewing region.
Episode data: TVmaze · CC BY-SA 4.0
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Audiobooks
An audiobook edition has not been confirmed for this case yet. You can check the audiobook catalog or explore the case’s podcasts.
Check Audio Formats For 2 Other Books
These books are in this case’s collection. An audiobook version has not been verified for the listings below.
Little Lost Angel
Search Audiobook Editions · paid linkMichael Quinlan · Gallery Books
Cruel Sacrifice
Search Audiobook Editions · paid linkAphrodite Jones
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Fiction Work
Fiction Work
Browse all →Scripted stories and fictional inspirations. Scenes, characters, and dialogue can differ from the record.
No verified fictional adaptation or inspiration has been identified in this collection. Nonfiction coverage is listed in the other media sections.
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Podcasts
Podcasts
15 itemsAbout these sources
Audio episodes and oral histories. Personal recollections are attributed perspectives; some services require sign-in.
Rotten Mango · Episode 75
Rotten Mango — the Shanda Sharer case
An episode covering the case with a companion source list. The show uses the title “The Mean Girls Killers.” Contains graphic discussion.
PodcastAccess Varies · Check Source
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Morbid
The Torture and Murder of Shanda Sharer
Podcast coverage of the Melinda Loveless case. Released March 8, 2021. About 103 minutes.
PodcastAccess Varies · Check Source
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Rotten Mango
#75: The Mean Girls Killers (Case of Shanda Sharer)
Podcast coverage of the Melinda Loveless case. Released June 23, 2021. About 87 minutes.
PodcastAccess Varies · Check Source
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I Could Murder A Podcast
Tortured By Her Friends: Shanda Sharer
Podcast coverage of the Melinda Loveless case. Released April 6, 2026. About 77 minutes.
PodcastAccess Varies · Check Source
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True Crime Brewery
Mean Girls: The Murder of Shanda Sharer
Podcast coverage of the Melinda Loveless case. Released October 17, 2017. About 101 minutes.
PodcastAccess Varies · Check Source
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Small Town Mysteries
The Murder of Shanda Sharer
Podcast coverage of the Melinda Loveless case. Released July 9, 2024. About 45 minutes.
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Show 9 more podcasts
Obscura: A True Crime Podcast
MURDERED: Shanda Sharer | Madison, IN 1992
Podcast coverage of the Melinda Loveless case. Released September 9, 2020. About 67 minutes.
PodcastAccess Varies · Check Source
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Women and Crime
Shanda Sharer
Podcast coverage of the Melinda Loveless case. Released May 26, 2020. About 34 minutes.
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LOVE MURDER
Murderous Mean Girls and the Tragic Death of Shanda Sharer
Podcast coverage of the Melinda Loveless case. Released April 28, 2021. About 80 minutes.
PodcastAccess Varies · Check Source
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This Feels Criminal: A True Crime Podcast (Formerly Killer Queens)
The Murder of Shanda Sharer
Podcast coverage of the Melinda Loveless case. Released July 11, 2020. About 44 minutes.
PodcastAccess Varies · Check Source
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Crime and Coffee Couple - True Crime Podcast
The murder of Shanda Sharer
Podcast coverage of the Melinda Loveless case. Released June 11, 2023. About 51 minutes.
PodcastAccess Varies · Check Source
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True Crime All The Time
The Murder of Shanda Sharer
Podcast coverage of the Melinda Loveless case. Released January 22, 2018. About 83 minutes.
PodcastAccess Varies · Check Source
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Outlore with Eleanor Neale
15: 12 Year Old's Love Triangle Ends in Murder (Shanda Sharer)
Podcast coverage of the Melinda Loveless case. Released June 6, 2023. About 36 minutes.
PodcastAccess Varies · Check Source
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Residue: A True Crime Podcast
At The Witches' Castle: The Horrific Murder of Shanda Sharer
Podcast coverage of the Melinda Loveless case. Released October 29, 2024. About 65 minutes.
PodcastAccess Varies · Check Source
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Women and Crime
Reconsidered: Shanda Sharer
Podcast coverage of the Melinda Loveless case. Released July 11, 2025. About 39 minutes.
PodcastAccess Varies · Check Source
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Social Media
BRING YOUR PERSPECTIVE
Where would you start?
Choose your reading route, then share a question with your community.
Your choice stays on this page. No vote is submitted or counted.
Talk about sources and storytelling with care for the people affected. A documentary, a book and a court record serve different purposes.
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News & Reading
More Reading & Audio
4 sourcesExplore book records, previews, library audiobooks and selected documents. Access labels distinguish free material from library loans and paid subscriptions.
OverDrive · Library Access
Little Lost Angel — Ebook
Michael Quinlan. Related reading for Melinda Loveless. Check participating libraries for this edition. Borrowing requires an eligible library card; availability and waits vary.
Check Library Access ↗Last Checked: · Access may changeReport a Link (Email)
Open Library · Catalog / Availability
Cruel sacrifice. by Aphrodite Jones
Bibliographic record for related reading. Check the edition page for previews, lending and other access options; full text has not been confirmed.
View Catalog & Access Options ↗Last Checked: · Access may changeReport a Link (Email)
Google Books · Catalog / Availability
Little Lost Angel
Related book record. Google may offer selected pages or another edition; full-book access is not confirmed.
View Catalog & Access Options ↗Last Checked: · Access may changeReport a Link (Email)
Google Books · Catalog / Availability
Cruel Sacrifice — Aphrodite Jones
A narrative account of the murder of Shanda Sharer and the teenagers involved. Edition record; available pages vary by region and edition.
View Catalog & Access Options ↗Last Checked: · Access may changeReport a Link (Email)
Reading Access Notes
Search reviewed 2026-09-16. Sources searched: Google Books, Internet Archive, Open Library, Library of Congress, Smithsonian Magazine, The Atavist Magazine, Google Books (case/title search), Scribd, Everand, OverDrive and hoopla (combined title search). Search indexing is incomplete; this is not an exhaustive list of the web. Access can change by edition, country and library membership. Library loans may require sign-in or a wait. Everand titles may need a paid subscription; a trial is not permanent free access. Scribd documents are third-party uploads, with uploader details noted where checked. We link to source pages and write our own descriptions rather than reproducing copyrighted books.
A separate Texas Monthly search was blocked by the publisher’s automated-access rules and could not be verified.
News & reporting
1 itemsWDRB · September 5, 2019
Reporting on Melinda Loveless’s release
Local reporting on Loveless’s release from prison and the earlier convictions in Shanda Sharer’s murder.
JournalismAccess Varies · Check Source
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Newspaper clippings
1 itemsFeatured newspaper clipping
Read our original summary below. The archive link opens the newspaper’s own clipping viewer.
The Madison Courier · 1993-06-02 · Page 1
Shanda Sharer’s family addresses the sentencing hearing
Wayne Engle reports from Hope Rippey’s sentencing hearing. Shanda’s father asked for the maximum sentence, while her mother showed family videos that remembered Shanda’s life.
Published during the hearing, before the sentence was announced. Contains distressing accounts of the crime.
Newspaper ReportingAccess Varies · Check Source
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Read the original at Newspapers.com. Access and subscription requirements are set by the archive.
Open full clipping at Newspapers.comKeep following the newspaper trail.
Search original reporting, follow the trial, and compare how newspapers covered the case over time.
Explore more on Newspapers.comNewspapers.com controls access to its archive. A subscription may be required; existing subscribers can sign in.
Internet Archive
1 itemsAbout these sources
Library records and preserved media. A catalog listing does not guarantee full reading or playback.
Internet Archive · Library record · 1995
Little lost angel
Quinlan, Michael. A library catalog record for a book connected with Melinda Loveless. The record may offer a preview or borrowing options; full reading access is not guaranteed.
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Court & Files
Court records & documents
1 itemsAbout these sources
Documents are labeled by type and scope. Allegations in filings are not findings of guilt. This collection is not the complete case file.
Court opinionOfficial court
Melinda Loveless v. State of Indiana — 2008 opinion
Official court opinion addressing Loveless’s post-conviction appeal. This is an appellate opinion, not the complete trial file. Contains detailed discussion of the crime.
- Court / agency
- Indiana Court of Appeals
- Document date
- November 14, 2008
- Case / citation
- 39A01-0802-PC-78
- Hosted by
- Indiana Courts
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Roads Traveled
Roads Traveled
Open case map →Indiana, United States. The map provides regional context; individually verified historical places are listed below.
Where this story happened
Indiana, United States
Highlighted states show regional context, not exact addresses. Ontario and regions outside the contiguous U.S. are listed by name.
Explore the interactive case atlas →Boundaries: Natural Earth · public domain
Location research & source notes
Map sources checked September 14, 2026. No case-specific Odd Stops location was found in this review.
See this case’s source review
- Odd Stops
- No verified match found. Read the location summaries in our place guides; photographs appear where reuse rights are verified.
- MurderData
- No verified match found.
- ArcGIS essay
- Not included in this essay.
- Reddit map
- Reviewed as a general resource. Its coordinates and victim counts were not adopted as case evidence.
“No verified match” describes the accessible material found in this review, not proof that a source has never covered the case. MAP’s anonymous records were not individually matched to people.
See the full case checklist →Burial / Remembrance
Shanda Sharer — Big Springs Methodist Church Cemetery
Big Springs Methodist Church Cemetery, Big Spring, Breckinridge County, Kentucky
Find a Grave records Shanda Renee Sharer (1979–1992) at Big Springs Methodist Church Cemetery in Kentucky. Her case occurred in Indiana; this stop identifies her resting place. Contributor photographs are available at the memorial; no exact grave coordinates are provided.
Historical reference · no visitor access verified
Explore This Place →Cemetery remembrance stop. Check cemetery visiting hours and rules; respect services and other visitors. Find a Grave is a community-contributed source.
Sources reviewed September 14, 2026. Check access information before traveling.
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Positive Outcome
Positive Outcome
0 itemsAbout these sources
Documented laws, advocacy and reforms. Listing a change does not claim it is effective or universally supported.
No case-specific reform has been verified for this collection yet.
Social Media
11 itemsAbout these sources
Case-specific posts, videos and communities. Community opinions are separate from verified reporting. Platforms may require sign-in.
I Could Murder A Podcast
Shanda Sharer: The Case That Changed a Community Forever
Video from I Could Murder A Podcast covering the Melinda Loveless case. Length: 1:17:21.
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Dr. Phil
Woman Involved in Murder of Shanda Sharer: ‘I Live with It Everyday’
Video from Dr. Phil covering the Melinda Loveless case. Length: 5:00.
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Stephanie Harlowe
The Life and Death of Shanda Sharer: PART ONE
Video from Stephanie Harlowe covering the Melinda Loveless case. Length: 1:04:53.
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Emma Kenny
The Disturbing Murder of 12 YEAR OLD Shanda Sharer
Video from Emma Kenny covering the Melinda Loveless case. Length: 1:21:51.
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True Crime Brewery
Mean Girls: The Murder of Shanda Sharer
Video from True Crime Brewery covering the Melinda Loveless case. Length: 1:40:28.
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OUTLORE with Eleanor Neale
THE SHANDA SHARER CASE
Video from OUTLORE with Eleanor Neale covering the Melinda Loveless case. Length: 36:57.
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Show 5 more social media
Ty Notts
Burned Alive By Her Friends | Shanda Sharer | True Crime Documentary
Video from Ty Notts covering the Melinda Loveless case. Length: 20:50.
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Dr. Phil
Shanda Sharer’s Sister to One of Her Killers: ”Do You Think ‘I’m Sorry’ Is Gonna Change Anything?”
Video from Dr. Phil covering the Melinda Loveless case. Length: 4:33.
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Dr. Phil
Shanda Sharer’s Mother Remembers Her 12-Year-Old Who Was Kidnapped and Tortured
Video from Dr. Phil covering the Melinda Loveless case. Length: 4:58.
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Annie Elise
The MEAN GIRLS Killers: The Savage Murder of Their 12-Year-Old Friend
Video from Annie Elise covering the Melinda Loveless case. Length: 52:31.
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TikTok · Creator channel
Crime and Coffee Couple - True Crime Podcast — TikTok channel
Linked by this creator in the episode notes for “The murder of Shanda Sharer.” This creator channel covers multiple cases. The matching case episode is linked below. The platform may ask you to sign in.
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