OH OH - John, 36, & Shelly Markley, 31, Bristolville, 15 Dec 1995

[Pennysmom2]

Shelly Renee Markley – The Charley Project

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Shelly, circa 1995

• Missing Since 12/15/1995
• Missing From Bristolville, Ohio
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Female
• Race White
• Date of Birth 11/16/1963 (60)
• Age 31 years old
• Height and Weight 5'4, 125 pounds
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• Clothing/Jewelry Description Stud earrings and a round gold ring with two diamonds.
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• Associated Vehicle(s) Red and silver 1990 Chevrolet pickup truck (accounted for)
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• Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair, blue eyes. Shelly smoked about one pack of Marlboro cigarettes a day at the time of her disappearance. She has freckles, pierced ears and a scar on her right forearm.

Details of Disappearance​

Shelly was last seen with her husband of sixteen years, John Markley, at their home on Greenville Road in rural Bristolville, Ohio on December 15, 1995. Their five children went to school in the morning and when they returned that afternoon, the house was unlocked and their parents were gone. The Markleys' red and silver Chevrolet pickup was missing also, and there was no note.

Upstairs in the Markley's residence, their gun cabinet was found open. It was normally kept shut and locked at all times. A small safe in the master bedroom was also open, with birth certificates and other papers scattered around the room. The beds were unmade, and some of John and Shelly's clothes were on top of their bed. A coffeepot in the kitchen was still cooking and had nearly boiled dry.

John's wristwatch, which he normally wore all the time, was on a shelf above the stove. Shelly's cigarettes, cigarette case and lighter were on the kitchen counter. She normally took her cigarettes with her whenever she left the house. In the garage, the tarps that normally covered John's 1978 Corvette were missing. He never left the car uncovered.

The Markley children initially believed their parents would return in a short time. John's twin sister died of cancer two days before he and Shelly disappeared. Calling hours at the funeral home were at 5:30 p.m. the day they went missing, and the funeral was scheduled for the day after. John was very distraught over his sister's death and planned to go to the funeral home with his children.

The children went to their aunt and uncle's nearby and waited for their parents to return. They went to the funeral home without John and Shelly after the couple did not arrive home. Their aunt and uncle reported John and Shelly's disappearance to the police at 12:30 a.m. the next day.

John's missing truck was later found locked and abandoned in the parking lot of a store in Bristolville, Ohio, ten miles from his home. The keys were missing. Inside the cab was the couple's cellular phone, and in the bed of the truck was a tire for a semitrailer truck and the tarps that had been taken off the Corvette.

The last transaction made on the Markleys' checking account was at 10:36 a.m. on the day of their disappearances, two hours after their children last saw them. A personal check for $1,000, made out to cash and signed by Shelly, was cashed at the Bank One in Bloomfield, Ohio, leaving an $865 balance in the account.

The bank teller at the drive-through window stated she remembered seeing the Markleys pull up in their pickup. John was driving and Shelly was seated between her husband and another man, whom the teller was unable to identify or describe.

Shelly was a stay-at-home mother at the time of her disappearance, and is described as a devoted parent to her children. Their home was fully paid for, and they left behind a freezer they had stocked full of food for the coming winter.

One of John's coworkers claimed to have been holding them for a $10,000 ransom, but authorities later decided the man was an opportunist who had not been involved in the Markleys' disappearances. He was charged with extortion.

John and Shelly's cases remain unsolved. Foul play is suspected.

Investigating Agency​

• Trumbull County Sheriff's Department 330-675-2540

Source Information​

• The Doe Network
• The Cleveland Plain Dealer
• NamUs
• Ohio Attorney General's Office
• The Missing Network

Updated 4 times since October 12, 2004. Last updated December 18, 2018; picture added.

 

[Pennysmom2]

John Markley Jr. (1959-unknown) - Find a Grave...

Born on 8 Jul 1959. Buried in Bristolville, Ohio, USA.

www.findagrave.com

 

[jpriddy1]

Please check out this Facebook page, like and share! Missing Persons- John & Shelly Markley

 

[chaddylex]

Trace Evidence Podcast just released an episode about John and Shelly's disappearance.
John and Shelly Markley were devoted and loving parents to their five children. During a week already marked by a family tragedy, John and Shelly mysteriously vanished on the morning of Friday, December 15th, 1995. The last sighting of the couple was made by a bank teller who waited on them at the drive up window. In addition to John and Shelly, the woman saw a third individual, a man who has never been identified.

Investigators found themselves caught up in a case with just one witness, almost no physical evidence and few in any clues. As the case unfolded, detectives would learn a lot about John and Shelly and everyone else in their lives. Within weeks an unknown caller began ringing the family home, demanding cash in exchange for the return of the missing couple and that would take the investigation in a completely different direction.

Nearly thirty years later, what became of John and Shelly remains a mystery and while law enforcement is certain there are people locally who know much more than they have shared, the case continues growing cold.

LISTEN NOW

 

[jpriddy1]

Crime Junkie Podcast also just released a podcast as well: MISSING: John & Shelly Markley | Crime Junkie Podcast

 

[Truman]

Tribune Chronicle Dec 17, 2015

WARREN – Although investigators recently conducted interviews into the disappearance of a Bristol couple 20 years ago, no new information or leads were obtained, according to the Trumbull County Sheriff’s Office.

Sheriff’s Major Tom Stewart said the investigation into the sudden and rather odd disappearance of John and Shelly Markley is still at a “roadblock.”

The couple was last seen by their family on the morning of Dec. 15, 1995, when they put their youngest son, 8, on the school bus. They have five children. When their oldest daughter, who was 15 at the time, returned home from school, they were nowhere to be found.

John was 36 at the time and Shelly was 31. Investigators found several odd things around the house: The clothes the couple intended to wear to a funeral for John’s twin sister were laid out. The funeral was held that day. A gun cabinet, usually locked, was open. Personal possessions like Shelly’s cigarettes, purse, credit cards and identification were left at the house. The coffee pot was left on.

A bank teller told investigators the Markleys went through the Cortland Bank’s Bloomfield branch 10:30 a.m. the day they disappeared and cashed a $1,000 check. The teller told police a slender, dark-haired man was in the cab of their 1990 Chevy pick-up truck. The checkbook was not recovered.

The truck was found a few days later in the parking lot of the former Stambaugh’s Hardware on Elm Road. Family members said the truck, which was dirty, looked like it had been driven off-road and that wasn’t something the Markleys usually did.

Hundreds of people searched hundreds of acres around the Greenville Road home, an air search was conducted and divers checked surrounding lakes and waterways, including Nelson Ledges Quarry, Mosquito Lake and Lake Milton.

The family tried psychics and appeared on the “Montel Williams” show and the “Maury Povich” show. Their story was televised on “Unsolved Mysteries.” As a result, family members searched waterways around Bowling Green.

In 1996, Stephen Durst, who was 45 at the time, was convicted of extorting the Markley family for $10,000 in exchange for information on their whereabouts. Durst was sentenced to four to 10 years by Trumbull County Common Pleas Judge Andrew D. Logan, but Durst claimed he was not the man who called the Markleys several times demanding money for information. He was arrested after a police stakeout at a gas station where the caller was supposed to pick up a bag full of money. Instead, the bag was full of rags. Durst’s appeal of the conviction was dismissed in 1998.

Durst also failed several questions about the couple’s disappearance. His answers were marked as deceptive when he said he wasn’t involved in the disappearance and didn’t see them after they were reported missing.

A court granted family members custody of the Markleys’five children.

 

[Pennysmom1]