Investigators in West Virginia have confirmed that they have found the body of a 16-year-old girl who went missing two weeks ago. Shayln Harvey had been missing since May 4, the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office said.
Her remains were found at a residence on Offutt Drive in Big Chimney, per Charleston Gazette-Mail.
What we know so far
Shayln was last seen on May 2 and reported missing on May 4.
Deputies said they found human remains with the help of K-9 cadaver dogs while executing a search warrant at Shayln’s home Friday. An autopsy was performed on Monday morning. The remains were subsequently positively identified as Shayln. Deputies said, per WAFB.
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Deputies are waiting for completed findings from the medical examiner so they can determine a cause of death. However, the death is being investigated as a homicide, the sheriff’s office said.
Court records showed that Shayln’s stepfather, James Warren Truman, 52, was arrested on May 8 on one count of incest and one count of sexual abuse by a parent, guardian, custodian or other person in a position of trust to a child. According to WCHS-TV, Truman’s criminal complaint states that he admitted to committing “child sex crimes that mostly occurred in April at the [Big Chimney property].”
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Truman waived his preliminary hearing. He is now incarcerated in the South Central Regional Jail on a cash-only bail of $100,000.
“At this time, we are not releasing the cause of death, pending the completed findings from the Medical Examiner,” the Sheriff’s Office said in a release on Monday. “This homicide investigation remains active and ongoing. Investigators will continue conducting interviews, processing evidence, and following up on all leads associated with this case.”
Anyone with information pertaining to the investigation has been urged to contact the Sheriff’s Office Detective Bureau at 304-377-0556 or leave a tip on kanawhasheriff.us.
