‘Hidden Behind a Wall’: Mother Collapses After Discovering the Truth About Missing Daughter

A body found behind a secret entrance to an attic was identified as a Black woman who went missing in Vallejo, California, on Sept. 28.

With the help of the FBI and the victim’s family, investigators made a gruesome discovery: the remains of 28-year-old Renia Lewis had been “hidden behind a wall” at the home of Douglas Irwin Shaw, a 41-year-old white man living in “hoarder-” style conditions. Family members told local news KTVU that her body had been dismembered.

The dilapidated property in a Bay Area suburb was Lewis’ last known location, prompting police to zero in on the house. Her mom, Teri Lewis, had been tracking her using the Life360 tracking app.

When her mom didn’t hear from Lewis, alarm bells went off, and the family launched their own search around the suspect’s neighborhood. After her phone was found on the roof of a nearby school, the Vallejo Police Department and Patrol Division took over. She was last seen on Sept. 24.

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Shaw allegedly confessed to the murder while in police custody and was booked into a Solano County jail for murder.

If it weren’t for the efforts of dogged investigators, police might have never found the young woman. The day she was reported missing, the police conducted a welfare check at Shaw’s cluttered home. They searched through rooms, closets, and hiding places, but turned up empty-handed.

Officers then pulled in the FBI and requested that the California Highway Patrol issue an Ebony Alert for Lewis. “The FBI was helpful in lending expert resources and investigative support to this case,” police said in a statement.

After a search warrant was granted, investigators discovered her body concealed in a backyard shed that had been designed for a resident, said Vallejo Police Public Information Officer Rashad Hollis. Reports show the victim’s body was dismembered.

‘You would miss it, because my baby girl was hidden behind a wall,’ Lewis’s cousin, Latoya Lewis, told KTVU. “They nailed her body behind the wall.”

Her mother, Teri, collapsed when police told her the terrible news. “I was praying. I said, God, please don’t let it be her, please don’t let it be her,” she told the outlet with tears in her eyes. “And he did not answer my prayer.”

“I am devastated, that’s my youngest daughter, her birthday is on Monday. She would have been 29.”

Shaw, a father of two girls, was arrested at his workplace, Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo. He was taken into custody without incident, according to a police statement, although they have not disclosed a motive or the connection Lewis had to Shaw or the property. KTVU reported that his ex-girlfriend, who worked with him at the amusement park, obtained a restraining order against him in 2023.

“This was a heartbreaking, senseless act of violence that has no place in our community,” Police Chief Jason Ta said in a statement. “I am proud of our officers and detectives for making an arrest and solving this case. Above all, our thoughts are with the decedent’s family during this incredibly difficult time.”