Documentary aims to solve '89 murder

NEWAYGO, Mich. (WOOD) - A West Michigan film-maker hopes to bring any information to light that could lead to a conviction in a 22-year-old murder case.
 
"Every victim of a homicide is worth having a film made about it," David Schock said.
 
Schock worked on Sunday in the studio in his Grand Haven home to put the finishing touches on his most recent documentary about the unsolved murder of a Michigan teen.

Shannon Siders, 18, from Newaygo disappeared in July of 1989. Her body was found three months later in Manistee National Forest, but no one was ever arrested for her murder.
 
"I was led to this case by someone in the Sheriff's Office in Newaygo who said, 'How come you don't have Shannon Siders' case under 'We Remember' on your website?'" Schock said. "I said, 'I don't know anything about this."
 
So Schock started looking into the case. Months of research, interviewing and editing later, the masterpiece is nearly complete.
 
"He came up and did quite an extensive interview with both me and my mother," Robert Siders, Shannon's father, told 24 Hour News 8 last week. "And several other people: the chief of police, several of Shannon's friends, Shannon's ex-boyfriend."
 
"The point of all this is to achieve a measure of justice -- And, of course, to help with what really happened," said Schock. "Her father needs to know what happened to his daughter."
 
If the documentary does encourage details to emerge, it wouldn't be the first time. Schock is known best for the documentary "Who Killed Janet Chandler?" that he made with students at Hope College, where he was once a professor.
 
That film helped land six murderers in prison after three decades of freedom.
 
Schock hopes that this documentary could help do the same this time around.
 
Signs around the small town of Newaygo already advertise the movie premiere, scheduled for Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the Newaygo High School Cafetorium.

The event is free.