In 2013, Brittany Dodson Stykes of Ripley, Ohio, was 22-years-old. She grew up on her parent’s farm and, ever since she was a little girl, loved riding horses and showing chickens and goats at the county fair.
Two years prior, Brittany had also met her future husband, Shane, while working at Subway. And after beginning to date, Brittany got pregnant.
“Of course I was shocked,” Shane said in an interview with Dateline. But, the pair had each other’s backs and decided to move forward with starting a family.
In February of 2012, Brittany and Shane even tied the knot. Then, by June of that year, they welcomed their daughter, Aubree, into the world.
And in 2013, the pair bought their own home in Ripley before finding out that they were expecting a second child. Brittany, Shane, and their families were over the moon.
But on August 28, 2013, everything changed for the young couple. That day, Brittany was supposed to complete an online job interview before going to her father’s birthday party in the evening.
Tragically, though, she never arrived at the party. According to the Brown County Ohio Sheriff’s Office, Brittany’s vehicle was discovered “deep in the woods with Brittany dead behind the wheel.”
She had been fatally shot multiple times; meanwhile, her eighteen-month-old daughter had been shot in the head while in the passenger seat.
Brittany’s daughter was immediately rushed to the Children’s Hospital and has since made a miraculous full recovery. However, Brittany and her unborn child could not be saved.
Her death sent shockwaves throughout the community and completely puzzled authorities– who claimed that the further they looked into Brittany’s life, they found less and less reason for such a heinous crime.
Investigators initially suspected Shane to be the murderer. But, after undergoing numerous interviews and polygraph tests, he was cleared.
Unfortunately, though, every other lead that has popped up on authorities’ radar has also resulted in a dead-end.
Investigators also never found any shell casings at the scene or nailed down a concrete motive for the crime.
“After seventy-five-plus interviews and around one million dollars spent on the investigation, the mystery of this double homicide still haunts this picturesque town in Ohio,” the Sherrif’s Office website reads.
However, Sergeant Quinn Carlson detailed how Brittany’s case has not and will not be forgotten.
“People call it a cold case, but we don’t because it is always being worked,” he said.
And Brittany’s family has not given up hope, either. A Facebook group entitled Brittany Stykes Case & Memorial was created to help raise awareness and honor Brittany’s legacy. There, Brittany’s parents and her sister, Emily, frequently post case updates and reflect on their daughter’s life.
“Brittany was my sister and my very best friend. She had the kindest soul and most infectious laugh,” Emily wrote in a post on September 7.
If you have any information regarding Brittany’s murder, you are urged to contact the Brown County Sheriff’s Office at (937) 378-4435, extension 130.
