The 1989 murder of 18-year-old Shannon Siders of Newaygo, solved a quarter century later by a cold-case team. Siders disappeared July 18, 1989, after partying with a group of other Newaygo County teens. A hunter found her badly decomposed body Oct. 15, 1989, in the Manistee National Forest off M-82 and Thornapple Road in Brooks Township near Newaygo. She was killed by a blow that crushed the back of her head and suffered many other injuries to her face and body. Brothers Matthew and Paul Jones were arrested and charged with open murder June 24, 2014. After a 2 1/2 -week trial with separate juries, one jury on May 8, 2015, found Matthew Jones, 45, guilty of first-degree murder. The other found Paul Jones, 43, guilty of second-degree murder. The Jones brothers were convicted of beating Siders to death in the pre-dawn darkness, probably after raping her not far from where her body was found. After a cold-case task force including the Michigan State Police, Newaygo County Sheriff's Office and other agencies was formed in 2011, five detectives worked the case full-time for about a year. The case was prosecuted jointly by the state attorney general's office and Newaygo County Prosecutor Robert D. Springstead. The trial featured at least 70 witnesses and more than 100 hours of testimony. Siders, who raised Shannon - his only child - mostly alone from the age of 4 until her death, said he's doing well after the emotional turmoil of the criminal case. "I'm glad it's ended, the guys are where they should be," he said. "These cold-case investigations seem to be fruitful," Siders said. "We hear about them every day, and they do cost money. I just want to tell the taxpayers that their money is well spent."

WZZM