Police investigated whether a serial killer might be responsible for Shumaker’s disappearance and several similar cases involving gay men in the same area of Florida: David Rhodes, Barry Block, Mark Jackson, Mark Thompson, and Bradley Williams all disappeared; Michael Wachholtz was murdered, and Jason Galehouse was likely murdered. These men were all roughly the same age and disappeared over several years.

A key suspect emerged: Steven Lorenzo. He lived near where Rhodes, Block, and Jackson disappeared from. Lorenzo and his accomplice, Scott Schweikert, were convicted of drugging and killing Galehouse and Wachholtz using GHB, a drug that makes people unconscious and vulnerable. Schweikert confessed to these murders and admitted he and Lorenzo targeted gay men, intending to make them sex slaves, then killing or selling them. Schweikert is serving life in prison. Lorenzo received a lengthy sentence for the GHB-related crimes but hasn’t been charged in connection with the deaths.

While authorities considered the possibility of a link between Lorenzo and the other missing men, including Shumaker, there wasn’t enough evidence to charge him in those cases. Shumaker’s disappearance remains a mystery.