Lane Co. Cold Case, Sept. 24

On Monday, June 9, 1977, sixteen year old Lliana Gay Adank and seventeen year old Eric Shawn Goldstrand, both North Eugene High School students, went to the Broken Bowl picnic grounds at Fall Creek, for an afternoon picnic and fishing outing. When the couple failed to return home, their parents notified the Lane County Sheriff’s Office. LCSO personnel located the female victim at the secluded picnic area. The male victim was located in the nearby brush a few hours later. The female victim had been sexually assaulted and both victims had been shot to death. Since the killings, detectives have worked to solve the case. Initially the crime scene was searched and processed, area searches were completed and roadblocks were put in place. Over the years, numerous interviews were done, polygraphs were completed and numerous firearms were tested and bullets forensically analyzed. Latent DNA was obtained at the crime scene and analyzed utilizing technology available at the time. Latent fingerprints from the crime scene were also analyzed and compared with the national fingerprint data base. No matches were found. These investigative efforts afforded few leads. However, after more than four decades, the suspect’s DNA was re-submitted in July of 2020 for analysis utilizing modernized genealogical technology. As a result of that analysis a former Lane County resident was identified and later confirmed to be the perpetrator. Ronald Albert Shroy’s DNA linked him to the crimes. Shroy was twenty three years old and a Lane County resident at the time of the crimes. Shroy moved away from Oregon in the early 1980’s. He was discovered to have been living in Mesa, Arizona since 2008. As investigators were closing in and making final preparations to present the matter to a grand jury, arrest, and charge him, Shroy was involved in an unrelated domestic violence incident and took his own life. (Feb 24, 2021). The Lane County Sheriff’s Office Cold Case Team remains dedicated to investigation and solving cases such as this. Detective Kurt Wuest was first assigned to this case in 1983. Now, 38 years later as a volunteer cold case investigator for the Lane County Sheriff’s Office, he hopes to bring closure to the families of Lliana Adank and Eric Goldstrand. The Lane County Sheriff’s Office Cold Case Team is comprised of volunteers and is funded by donations made by community members. The ability for investigators to actively work these cold case investigations is made possible by these donated funds. This funding allowed for the recent DNA work on this case to be completed. We would like to thank all of the agencies that assisted with this investigation, including the Lane County District Attorney’s Office, San Luis Obispo Sheriff’s Office, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. A special thank you is also given to the Mesa Arizona Police Department, and all of the forensic scientists for their hard work in helping us solve this case.