Overview of Tanya Teske (The 2 of Spades, Idaho)
This episode of The Deck revisits the 1997 murder of Tanya Teske (often misheard as “Tonya”), an 18-year-old hitchhiker whose body was found off Highway 20 near Yukon, Idaho. Ashley Flowers reopens the case because investigators now believe there may be new significance to an old person of interest, Mark Douglas Burns, and because previously overlooked connections between Tanya’s movements, truckers, and multiple states may help solve the case.
What Happened to Tanya Teske
Discovery of the body
- On August 15, 1997, Tanya’s naked body was found on a grassy embankment near a highway on-ramp in eastern Idaho.
- She had:
- no identification
- no clothing
- a distinctive yellow-orange dyed haircut
- a single costume-style ring
- The scene suggested the body had been dumped roadside and rolled downhill.
Autopsy findings
- Tanya’s death was ruled homicidal violence of undetermined origin.
- Investigators found:
- blunt force trauma to the back of the head
- bruising consistent with her body being moved or dumped
- no skull fracture
- no proof of strangulation, stabbing, or gunshot wound
- A sexual assault exam was inconclusive.
- One of the strangest details: her head and left arm were in a much more advanced state of decomposition than the rest of her body.
The Investigation and Key Leads
Identifying Tanya
- A trucker named David Lord saw a flyer and said he recognized the victim as Tanya Teske.
- Tanya’s mother confirmed she had been living a transient lifestyle, hitchhiking around the Mountain West.
- Tanya had last been seen by her mother on August 10, 1997, when she said she was heading to Denver to visit a boyfriend.
David Lord’s account
- Lord said he gave Tanya a ride after seeing her at a truck stop in Belgrade, Montana.
- He claimed Montana deputies had told him to take her out of the area.
- He said he dropped her near the Cinnamon Lodge in Montana, where she got into another truck around 10 p.m. on August 13.
- Investigators found inconsistencies in his story and his truck logs, but not enough to charge him.
Conflicting Montana police story
- Montana deputies said they had only contacted Tanya because of a report that she was soliciting sex work over CB radio.
- They denied telling any trucker to give her a ride out of state.
- This contradiction became one of the biggest unresolved issues in the case.
Critical Evidence and Possible Crime Scenes
Clothing and roadside dumps
Investigators found Tanya’s belongings in multiple places along likely trucking routes:
- Utah: clothing dump site with items identified by her mother
- Montana woods near Targhee Pass: more clothing, a stuffed Barney doll, a watch, and underwear with a pad
- These discoveries suggested someone may have been moving or discarding her belongings along the route.
Shotgun Village, Island Park, Idaho
- Detectives learned David Lord had a habit of taking women to family property near Shotgun Village to party.
- In a vacant apartment there, they found:
- Cambridge Light 100 cigarette butts
- Tanya’s hair dryer
- tampon wrappers matching the ones her mother gave her
- In a nearby vacant cabin, they found:
- signs of possible break-in or tampering
- a hot tub that appeared to have been used or altered
- a strong odor of decomposition
- Tanya’s body also had two circular bruises on her lower back, which detectives theorized could possibly match hot tub jets.
Decomposition mystery
- Investigators theorized part of Tanya’s body may have been exposed to hot water or higher heat, which could explain the odd decomposition pattern.
- However:
- there was no water in her lungs
- toxicology was clean
- no definitive explanation was ever proven
Later Leads and Suspects
Mark Douglas Burns
- The episode opens with a new update: Mark Douglas Burns, a man who confessed to murdering a young mother in 2001, is now being considered as a possible person of interest.
- His known behavior and some overlaps with Tanya’s case made him worth revisiting.
- He has not yet been ruled in or ruled out, and law enforcement had not yet interviewed him in prison at the time of the episode.
Franklin James and Douglas Shoemate
- In 1999, a woman named Michelle told the FBI her ex-husband Franklin James gave her a denim jacket she believed belonged to Tanya.
- She later saw the same jacket on Wendy, wife of Franklin’s coworker Douglas Shoemate.
- Michelle also said she overheard talk about:
- “involvement at Shotgun Village”
- an altercation above the store there
- Their daughter later told police she remembered David Lord at their home and a big green suitcase in the truck after the Island Park job.
- Tanya’s denim jacket was eventually confirmed by her mother and entered into evidence.
Problems With the Case
Lost or destroyed evidence
- In 2008, a large amount of Tanya-related evidence was destroyed because it was taking up too much room in the evidence locker.
- Items lost included:
- clothing from the possible crime scene
- a cigarette butt potentially rich in DNA
- Still retained:
- fingernail scrapings
- some cups found near her clothing
- the Barney doll
- her watch
- glass slides from the sexual assault kit
DNA results
- When the old sexual assault slide was retested, investigators found:
- a partial DNA profile on Tanya’s left breast
- multiple DNA contributors on the other breast
- Testing against David Lord’s preserved DNA was inconclusive.
- Investigators want fresh samples from:
- David Lord
- Franklin James
- Douglas Shoemate
Main Takeaways
- Tanya Teske was a young hitchhiker whose murder appears tied to a complicated network of truck stops, roadside pickups, and possible crime scenes across Idaho, Montana, and Utah.
- David Lord remains a major unresolved figure because he was the last confirmed person to see Tanya alive and his account contains contradictions.
- The case gained new momentum because of:
- a renewed look at Mark Douglas Burns
- preserved DNA evidence
- a public art tribute that helped refocus attention on Tanya
- Despite years of investigation, the case still hinges on unanswered questions about:
- who gave Tanya her final ride
- where she died
- what happened in Shotgun Village
- how her belongings ended up scattered across the region
What Investigators Want Now
- Anyone who saw Tanya in Montana or Idaho between August 10–14, 1997 is asked to contact the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office.
- Detectives especially want information about:
- Tanya getting into another truck near Big Sky, Montana
- the people connected to David Lord
- Franklin James and Douglas Shoemate
- The episode ends by urging anyone with knowledge to cooperate, as the case may still be solvable with fresh testimony and DNA evidence.