WA WA - Shelby Raistlin Wright, 14, Snohomish, 26 July 2004

[hoppyfrog]

http://heraldnet.com/article/20080416/NEWS01/87971871

16 April 08

Machias property searched in case of boy missing since '04

Detectives used a backhoe, radar equipment and dogs to comb over property where Shelby Wright, then 14, was last seen.

Shelby Wright disappeared four years ago.

Detectives initially believed the boy, a computer whiz, may have met someone over the Internet.

On Sunday, homicide detectives returned to the neighborhood where the boy, then 14, was last seen. They brought along a backhoe, radar equipment and specially-trained dogs to search for signs of Shelby, neighbors said.

much more at link

photo

 

[meggilyweggily]

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/w/wright_shelby.html

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Shelby's 18th birthday just passed. This doesn't sound good, but maybe they'll find something related to his case.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Shelby has now been missing for 6 years.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

*bump*

For The Missing: Pacific Northwest
Shelby Wright has been missing from Washington for 7 years today.http://www.facebook.com/KING5News


Charley Proeject - Shelby Raistlin Wright - Snohomish WA, 2004
http://www.charleyproject.org/
14-year-old Shelby Wright was last seen on July 26, 2004. He was living with his great-grandmother in Snohomish WA and caring for her while going to summer school. He was last seen at a family friend's home. All of his belongings, except his laptop, were left behind. Foul play is suspected.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

BUMPING for Shelby, missing 8 years today.

 

[keljo]

This article ran today. http://heraldnet.com/article/201304...ctives-renew-efforts-to-find-long-missing-boy

I live within a couple miles of where this boy was supposed to be staying. (I didn't live here then.)

Let me tell you...the sheriff's office is horrid here. I read this article for the first time today. It ticks me off that

a) he didn't make the news when he disappeared--but that's to be expected around here. Kids die from drugs around here and the story is never told.

b) the sheriff's office had him listed as a runaway for what 2-3 years?! No shocker there either. But to the rest of us, it's obvious immediately that a kid gone without any belongings should raise massive red flags immediately.

I'm ashamed I live here.

I'm so sorry for Shelby.

There is a river very close by. In July many locals are on the river. Drinking, drugging--most of them. The police basically condone it.

Besides the river, it is mostly redneck farmland in the sticks. Lots of brush and trees. Easy for someone to disappear.

I don't know the two detectives mentioned in the article, but my impression of the sheriff's office: lazy, corrupt, protect the drug trade. The deputies make it clear they will do two things and two things only: 1) revenue generation (tickets) and 2) stop violence in progress.

Additionally, there is a massive disconnect between the deputies and the sheriff. Deputies have described to me that they trust only their partner and their sargeant--no one else in their own department. If that doesn't speak volumes...

Yeah, if a kid is going to go missing and not be found--rather, not be sincerely and competently looked for by police, this is the place to get lost or stolen.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

There was a lot of information in that article that I hadn't heard before. I thought he was actually staying with his great-grandmother while caring for her. But they say he was actually staying with an uncle because his grandparents were out of town. (Not sure if mom didn't have custody or...?) Uncle then tells a story about Shelby not wanting to help his great-grandmother anymore? But then the article later says he WAS staying with his great-grandmother... so was the uncle also staying with them? I'm confused. Then some girl rides her bike 10-15 miles to ask where Shelby is?

So, Shelby was supposedly last seen on July 26. But the article says that a sheriff's deputy gave him a ride to his mom's house (who he apparently did not live with) on July 27, and on July 28 his mom saw him working on his scooter. Does this family not talk to one another? Then, in "late July", he was supposedly with a family friend and friend's girlfriend. Both of whom are now dead (and where the searches are taking place).

Interesting... Or, at least, it would be. If I could make sense of it.


Anyway, here's another article.


Missing boy's mom: 'You just wake up and you think it's a dream'

Shelby Wright has been missing for nearly nine years, but his mother is still holding out hope that the mystery of his disappearance will be solved.

More: http://www.komonews.com/news/local/...e-up-and-you-think-its-a-dream-202648231.html

 

[keljo]

Interesting... Or, at least, it would be. If I could make sense of it.

He was staying with the Uncle while the grandparents--whom he lived with--were out of town.

When the grandparents returned, the Uncle told the grandparents the boy didn't want to help with the great-grandmother anymore. (This is one of the suspicious facts to me, which lead me to look at the uncle.)

The girl riding over to the grandparents, and the distance from Machias to Seattle-Hill is significant and unsafe. Only a fraction of that bike ride would be on roads or the trail that would be somewhat safe. The majority had to be on the highway and on roads with little to no shoulder. This just isn't done around here. The fact that anyone, especially a teenager would ride that distance on those roads is alarming in and of itself and it points to the fact that this girl thought something was very wrong and wanted to address the grandparents--not the uncle.

The fact that the boy was gone, but didn't "leave" with his clothes, etc., to return to the grandparents, and the uncle never reported him missing is another red flag.

The reality is, the sheriff's department is worthless here: the fact that they didn't handle this appropriately from the start is one example.

Our deputies make no secret of the fact that they will do two things (meaning they won't do much else by their own claim): 1) revenue generation, and 2) stop violence in the act--as opposed to investigating it after the fact.

Of course there are the rare good guys--and I have met a few, and they are disgusted by the rest--but the bad guys outnumber the good on the force and they are in a separate world from the Sheriff's administration, who rather openly admit they have little control over the deputies.

Given the rogue, lazy, complacent deputies and the physical terrain in the Machias area, I say there is little possibility this case will be solved, only bones may be one day found.

 

[anbeaudre]

What else do we know about this uncle??

How sure are we that the mom actually saw him the day after? Could she be mistaken?

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Keljo, those are the same things that stood out to me about the uncle.

But what do you make of the fact that he was supposedly last seen with this "family friend", and that's where the focus of the police seems to be?

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Shelby was featured on Washington's Most Wanted this week.


Missing Mystery: Teen boy vanishes — all that’s found is his scooter

[snip]

“I know that he left his residence, he was seen by his mom leaving to come up here. From there, we don’t know if he ever returned home because no one has since seen him” Wiloth said.

Shelby used his scooter to get around the neighborhood and visit friends and family. That’s what he was doing when he went missing.

“Rob Wolf was a friend of Shelby’s mother and very close to Shelby; a good friend of his. They hung out together, spent a lot of time together- that sort of thing, Explained Wiloth. Shelby’s scooter was found on Wolf’s property , but there was no sign of the 14-year old anywhere. Police questioned the man extensively, but nothing ever came of it. “He was equally concerned, so he said, about Shelby. Claimed to have no knowledge of what happened to him,” recalls Wiloth.

If Wolf did know anything, those answers died with him a few years ago. There were allegations of drug use on the property and a lot of different people in and out. Police performed exhaustive searches of the house and grounds, but came up empty.

Read more: http://catchwmw.com/2013/06/07/miss...all-thats-found-is-his-scooter/#ixzz2VbHPLmH4

Video also included at link.

Adorable picture too.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Did Shelby really ride his scooter 10 miles? Was that common for him?

Grandmother's address is given as 6400 East Lowell Laririmer Road.
The "friend"'s address is given as 900 135th Avenue Southeast.
Those two addresses are over 10 miles apart.

Do I have that right?!?


https://maps.google.com/maps?q=6400...tD3AIdNq25-Cm1KopiaqyaVDFhpWq7yjQtyA&t=h&z=12

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Bumping for Shelby, now missing more than 9 years.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Shelby has been missing for 10 years today.

 

[SadlyMistaken]

Did Shelby really ride his scooter 10 miles? Was that common for him?

Grandmother's address is given as 6400 East Lowell Laririmer Road.
The "friend"'s address is given as 900 135th Avenue Southeast.
Those two addresses are over 10 miles apart.

Do I have that right?!?


https://maps.google.com/maps?q=6400...tD3AIdNq25-Cm1KopiaqyaVDFhpWq7yjQtyA&t=h&z=12

You have that right. I am just now becoming familiar with this case. I live in the area and have never heard anything about it until I saw a missing flyer in a Snohomish gas station. By scooter.. I am thinking.. one of those push with your feet ones that were big around that time. Maybe even a motorized one! But.. there is NO way that he rode a scooter from Lowell to Machias. I am thinking that he was staying with grandparents that lived on Lowell but they were out of town so he was staying with his uncle and the great grandmother in the Machias area and the "friend" only lived about a mile from there.

 

[rosesfromangels]

What an absolutely precious looking child, and obviously a smart little guy as well. I will refrain from sharing my thoughts about many of the adults in this child's life....

I think the then child who rode her bike 10-15 miles to see Shelby (see if he was o.k.?) may be the best chance of solving this disappearance. Shelby probably shared a lot with her, to the point where she was willing to make that long trek (and back) to see him. LE should contact her and interview her again with renewed interest.

 

[JerseyGirl]

still missing:

http://www.kiro7.com/news/photos-washingtons-missing-children-updated-august-4/526625854

 

[EDFSleuth]

This case is so sad. I found it while looking into the disappearance of Kelly (Jones) Sarsten, who was murdered just a few weeks later in the same area. They lived about two miles from each other. While there probably isn't a connection, it's still very strange to me that two major crimes happened in such a small area where this kind of thing does not happen very often.

 

[My3LilKittens]

http://www.411gina.org/cases/wrightshelbyraistlin.html

It is clear that Shelby was left on his own a lot. He kinda did his own thing and that is why he wasn't reported missing immediately. He apparently was known to be on internet chat rooms, which can go badly very quickly for a 14-year-old boy. The fact that only his computer is taken leads me to think he was either picked up from the residence in a car or walked nearby. You don't go a great distance with your computer in tow like that on foot. While he lives in a small town, it needs to be mentioned that he is about a 25 minute drive away from large cities. Easy hunting ground for someone on the internet looking for a young boy.

It has been 14 years with no sign of Shelby. The police apparently were able to get some of his computer records, but only they know what was found. This honestly feels like an innocent kid that ended up the target of a predator. Whether that predator was known to him locally or traveled, no one can say.

Someone ALWAYS knows ....