I saw this pic on some google searches but it does not look like the same person as the photo with Claude. Anybody know?
Updates , Tidbits, and Inconsistencies:
The Shelton's had three kids, Shelia, Ronnie and Debbie. (Shelia was the oldest at 10. the others were about a year or two apart.)
Based on the actual newspapers that I have seen on the case, the correct date is May 28, 1971, not May 21, 1971.
Some accounts call the oldest daughter Sherri and make her 11 instead of 10.
As stated above, some accounts say that the $600 vanished the same time Claude and Sue did. Others say that it was found missing later.
Since Sue left without her purse, I personally believe that the parents assumed they would be back quickly.
One newspaper article says a family friend found the kids without food the afternoon of the incident.
Some accounts say that the police took the kids to their grandmothers' in Tennessee shortly after, Others say that the kids stayed with family friends for about a week in order to finish the school year. I believe the latter. It is known for certain that the children were raised by their grandmother.
According to map sources, three of the four routes that the Sheldon's could have taken to "King's Truck Stop" had bodies of water in the vicinity. Could they have swerved to avoid colliding with a speeding car, and wound up in the lake? Why weren't the lakes searched back then? Or would that be too much of an exhaustive effort?
Family gatherings ALWAYS have food, from appetizers to full meals. The Shelton's were visiting Claude's parents that evening. Let's say it was a 4-8pm thing. The food served there, unless it was just small appetizers would probably hold them over til morning. Families, especially in the South, who have parties and socials, food is a HUGE part of family gatherings. You don't go that far away for food (5 miles out.) once you are already home. Low on food in the house? You go to the store when it opens in the morning . Best case, you eat a sandwich when you get home, and go to bed until morning,
Guys, I am seriously doubting the going to King's Truck Stop being told to the kids more and more. I am getting to the point where I don't even think that part of the story is true. What about the rest of you?
Percentage wise, what do you believe happened to Claude and Sue Shelton? My thoughts:
50% They are in a lake due to an accident.
40% They were conned by a passing motorist for help or picked up a hitchhiker who killed them, bodies could still be in a lake. Or some drug deal gone bad, IF they took the $600 with them.
10% They decided to abandon their kids and home.
If the car and their bodies are in the lake, how long would it take the car to sink? For the lake to be searched?
Satch
What would draw people out of their house at 2 am and do something they wouldn't normally do, like leave their children alone?
That is a nagging question, the why/what for.
Whatever it was, it had to be urgent or compelling enough to make them risk putting their children in potential danger by leaving them alone. Based on the fact Sue's purse was left behind, I suspect they planned on a quick trip, out & back, within minutes. This would minimize the risk and make it easier to rationalize as it being okay to do. Going out to eat or even meeting up with someone for business at 2 am doesn't sound that quick to me, or believable, or pressing. The fact that it appears Claude gave Sue the option to go or stay, makes it sound like it was urgent enough to entice her along, too. I would have opted for bed instead, I can't think of anything that would have enticed me to go at that our, but that's me.
From the Kentucky newspaper articles from the Lexington Herald and the Corbin Times Tribune published in June 1971, both newspaper articles reported that Claude Shelton and Martha Sue Shelton left their home on Friday May 28, 1971.
One newspaper article reported that the Shelton parents left their home at 2:00 a.m. and the other newspaper article reported they left their home at 2:30 a.m. that morning.
The date of Friday May 28, 1971 is significant for two reasons.
First, that day would have been a school day for the Shelton children.
Second, it would have been the start of the Memorial Day weekend in 1971.
One of the Kentucky newspaper articles reported that the Sheltons had visited Claude's parents in Williamsburg.
Williamsburg is 17 miles from Corbin via Interstate 75 and US Highway 25W.
Now if Claude Shelton and Martha Sue Shelton left their home between the hours of 2:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m. on the morning of Friday May 28, 1971, it would mean that the Sheltons visit of Claude's parents had to occur on the evening of Thursday May 27, which would have been a school night for the Shelton children.
The fact that the parents left their home between the hours of 2:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m. in the morning leaving their children home alone is troubling.
The question here is did the parents lock their house doors when their children were left home alone during the early morning hours of May 28, 1971?
And when the children woke up to find their parents missing, did the children go to school that morning?
I noticed that the Reddit article mentioned that Martha Sue Shelton was a stay at home mom. This has me wondering if the oldest child Sheila had a key to get into the home if the parents were gone from their home.
Now on the Kentucky State Police web site about the cold case of Claude Shelton and Martha Sue Shelton, I noticed two things on that web site that caught my attention.
First, it did not mention what time the parents left their residence at the trailer park on Friday May 28, 1971.
Second, a witness stated that the parents had been saving money and had saved approximately $600.
Now if you exclude the Shelton children's knowledge about the money jar, the question here is who else outside of the Shelton household would have knowledge about the parents saving money, the money jar, and the amount of cash in the money jar.
Cold case of Claude Shelton and Sue Shelton
COLD CASE ON THE CLAUDE SHELTON & SUE SHELTON – kentuckystatepolice.org
That wasn't a common thing back then.Could they have been home schooled?
Could they have been home schooled?
No, the Shelton children attended public schools in Corbin.
I found a public facebook group called Missing Please Find Us and there was a posting on May 8, 2017 about the case of Claude and Martha Sue Shelton.
One of the comments in that facebook group had a picture from the late 1960's of one of the Shelton children in a grade school class picture.
Another comment in that group was from the son of the Shelton children mentioning that the pictures of Claude and Martha Sue Shelton were his parents and that the parents car were never found.
Claude and Martha Sue Shelton - Missing - Please Find Us -
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