MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – It’s been six months since 20-year-old Anarae Schunk of Burnsville went missing and was later found dead in southern Minnesota.
Yet, no one has been charged in the University of Minnesota student’s death.
But investigators believe Shavelle Chavez-Nelson, Schunk’s former boyfriend, is a suspect. They also think he killed another man, Palagor Jobi, outside a Burnsville bar.
Prosecutors have charged Chavez-Nelson for killing Jobi. At a hearing Friday, Jobi’s father said he was upset to see the man accused of killing his son, who had hoped to do charity work in Africa.
The families of both Jobi and Schunk shared a hug Friday at the courthouse. As of yet, Schunk’s family is still awaiting charges to come down in connection to their daughter’s death.
Schunk’s mother says she still keeps her daughter’s bedroom intact, with the chess board out, clothes in the closet, and shoes by the door.
“This is where I come to connect,” Mariana Schunk said. “I miss her, and if there was some way to get her back, that’s about the best thing that could ever happen.”
She said her heart goes out to the Jobi family.
“It’s just sad for [the Jobi family] too,” Mariana Schunk said, “but, again, if Shavelle hadn’t been let off so easily, two people would still be alive today.”
She says Chavez-Nelson should have never been bailed out considering his lengthy criminal history – one that her daughter had empathy for.
“In her own mind, she was just so sure she could turn him around,” Mariana Schunk said.
Now, the Schunk family is on a mission to toughen bond laws in Minnesota. Mariana Schunk is taking cues from her daughter.
“I read in one of her journals about change: Things don’t need to be changed, they just need to be improved,” she said.
She says she’s ready for charges in her daughter’s case, as it has now been a half a year.
The reason it’s taking so long, the prosecutor says, is because there are two death cases and the Jobi case was first. It takes precedence, and there’s been a hold up processing evidence at the BCA because there are so many pieces.
