Missing Bay Area Woman's Body Found Behind Secret Wall, Suspect Arrested

VALLEJO, CA — A man has been arrested on suspicion of killing a Bay Area woman who had been reported missing over the weekend, police said.

Renia Lewis, 28, was found dead in the attic of a Vallejo home on Tuesday, according to the Vallejo Police Department. The 28-year-old Vallejo resident was reported missing Sunday after nobody had seen her since Friday night, according to authorities.

The 28-year-old's disappearance sparked an investigation that led the officers to a Vallejo home. There, officers searched every room, closet and any other places someone could be hiding in, the Vallejo Police Department said.

Officers went back to the home with a warrant the next day and found an entry to an attic that had been concealed, police said.

Inside the attic, the officers found the 28-year-old's remains, police said.

Lewis' family told KUTV that police had found her body behind a secret wall leading to the attic.

"What did she do to you for you to kill her, and then put her in a wall?" her mother, Teri Lewis of Stockton, asked rhetorically in an interview with KUTV. "And she’s been gone since Friday, so we were out here looking for my daughter, and she’s in the wall - dead. I know she fought."

It's unclear how she died. But police said they arrested 41-year-old Vallejo resident Douglas Irwin Shaw on Tuesday in connection with Lewis' death.

After being arrested on suspicion of murder, Shaw admitted to police that he killed Lewis.

"This was a heartbreaking, senseless act of violence that has no place in our community. I am proud of our officers and detectives for making an arrest and solving this case," Vallejo Police Department Chief Jason Ta said in a statement Wednesday. "Above all, our thoughts are with the decedent’s family during this incredibly difficult time."

The Vallejo Police Department asks that anyone with more information contact investigators at 707-648-5425 or at 707-651-7146.