Name: Shelly Renee Markley
Case Classification: Missing
Missing Since: December 15, 1995
Location Last Seen: Bristolville, Trumbull County, Ohio
Date of Birth: November 16, 1963
Age: 31 years old
Race: White
Gender: Female
Height: 5'4"
Weight: 125 lbs.
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Blue
Nickname/Alias: Unknown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: She smoked Marlboro cigarettes at the time of her disappearance. Scar on right forearm, freckles. Pierced ears.
Dentals: Available
Fingerprints: Unknown
DNA: Unknown
Clothing: Unknown
Jewelry: Stud earings, round gold ring with two diamonds.
Additional Personal Items: Unknown
Shelly Markley was last seen with her husband John Markley at their home in Farmington Township, Ohio on December 15, 1995.
The couple's children went to school that morning, but when they returned home that afternoon, the house was unlocked but the parents weren't there. There was no note explaining the Markleys' absence. The Chevrolet pickup was gone. The gun cabinet that was upstairs in the master bedroom that was never unlocked, was found opened. A small safe in the master bathroom also was open. Birth certificates and other papers were strewn about. The beds were unmade; in the kitchen, the coffee pot was still cooking and had nearly boiled dry. Shelly left her pack of Marlboro cigarettes on the kitchen counter. She was a pack-a-day smoker at the time of her disappearance. In the attached garage, the kids noticed that the protective tarps covering their dad's prized 1978 Corvette were missing. John Markley never left the car exposed.
John Markley's pickup truck was later found locked in the parking lot of a store about 10 miles from the Markley home in the village of Bristolville. No one could recall how long the truck had been there. The doors were locked and the keys were missing. Inside the cab, on the console, was the couple's cellular telephone. In the bed were the two tarps that John Markley used to cover his Corvette . On top of the tarps was a tire for a semi. Nothing else of use was found in the truck.
John Markley was an independent trucker with no criminal record and no life insurance at the time of his disappearance. Shelly was a stay-at-home mom who was dedicated to her children. They had been married sixteen years, left a house that was paid for, and a freezer full of food for the winter.
The next week, detectives from the sheriff's office examined the couple's checking account. The last transaction was on Friday, December 15, at 10:36, two hours after Shelly Markley had put her son on the bus. A personal check, made out to cash and signed by Shelly Markley, was cashed for $1,000.
The woman working the drive-through window that morning knew the couple and recalled them pulling up in their pickup. John Markley was driving. His wife signed the check on the dashboard. The teller remembered Shelly was seated between her husband and another man, a stranger whom the teller was unable to describe.
A man who had worked with John Markley said he was holding the couple for $10,000 ransom. But, investigators have not found anything that would lead them to believe he had any involvement in the Markeley's being missing.
Agency Name: Trumbull County Sheriff's Office
Agency Contact Person: Rick Tackett, Det.
Agency Phone Number: (330) 675-2508
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: 956126
NamUs Case Number: 10586
NamUs
OH OAG
WKBN-TV News
The Plain Dealer - Dec. 23, 1995 & Feb. 23, 1997
Akron Beacon Journal - Jan. 5, 1996
The Journal Gazette - Jan. 5, 1996
Chillicothe Gazette Jan. 5, 1996
The Blade - Oct. 23, 1997
Added: 10-08-2006; Last Updated: 03/06/2024 - By: kc
Questions or comments? Please contact appropriate member of the Area Team
** Listed information is from the time of disappearance.
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