Brittany Shank case: Sheriff adds two investigators, partners with Michigan State Police for ‘fresh look,’ father says

St. Joseph County Sheriff Chad Spence has assigned two new detectives to the 2018 disappearance of Brittany Nicole (Wallace) Shank and entered a formal partnership with Michigan State Police (MSP), according to Shank’s father, Greg Wallace, following a meeting Thursday. Wallace said he left the meeting feeling “1,000 percent better” about the direction of the investigation.

Wallace said Spence and members of his command staff told him the county will work jointly with an MSP detective to re-examine the case file from the beginning, with “fresh eyes” from both agencies. Along with the two new officers assigned by SJCSO, MSP is assigning an officer of their own to the case.

Wallace and family advocate Jackie Milliman described the meeting as a reset under Spence, who took office in January 2025.

“I went in today intending to ask that the case be turned over to MSP,” Wallace said. “I left feeling it’s in good hands.”

As part of the reset, Wallace said one of the assigned investigators committed to monthly check-ins, effective immediately. A pledge Wallace noted he’d also received in 2022 after signing a dental records release, but “that was the last time I heard from anybody until they scheduled this meeting,” he said. “I’ve got today’s date in my book. If I don’t hear from them a month from now, I’m going to hold them accountable.”

Wallace and Milliman said new searches are being planned and new technologies are under review, but they deferred specific details to law enforcement. They also said the St. Joseph County Prosecutor’s Office participated and provided victim advocacy resources, which the family said they had not previously received.

At the family’s request, Watershed Voice is withholding the names of the newly assigned detectives from St. Joseph County and MSP until an official announcement from the sheriff’s office.

Milliman said a second advocate and friend of Wallace who hosts the “Hide and Seek” podcast was not permitted to attend Friday’s meeting after law enforcement cited potential conflicts. Watershed Voice has requested clarification from the sheriff’s office on that decision.

Thursday’s developments come almost seven years after Shank, 23, vanished on November 30, 2018 following a crash along Fawn River Road near Sturgis. In October 2024, the sheriff’s office released the 911 audio from that night and a sketch of the man believed to have been last seen with Shank. The WMU Cold Case Program has assisted by organizing the case file and building timelines.

Tip line: Anyone with information is asked to contact the St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Office at 269-467-9045.

This story will be updated if the sheriff’s office, MSP, or the prosector provides additional comment or releases further details.

Maxwell Knauer is a staff writer for Watershed Voice