The body of a missing teenager from West Virginia was found at the residence where her stepfather faced accusations of mistreatment, preceding the discovery of her remains by two weeks.
The 16-year-old, identified as Shalyn Harvey, was located on a property in Big Chimney, West Virginia, on May 15. The Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office confirmed on May 18 that the recovered remains belonged to Harvey.
Shortly after her disappearance was reported, her stepfather, James Truman, 52, was arrested on unrelated charges of incest and sexual abuse by a parent, guardian, or custodian. Reports indicate that Harvey went missing on May 4, just two days after she was last seen near the area where her body was ultimately found.
Law enforcement officers initially suspected that she had left in a “blue Dodge Ram pickup truck from the early 2000s.” Subsequent investigations led to the authorization of a search at a property in Big Chimney, where Harvey had been residing with her mother and Truman.
Although a post-mortem examination has been conducted on Harvey’s body, the cause of death has not been disclosed by the sheriff’s office. The incident is being treated as a homicide. Court documents suggest that Truman’s charges of sexual abuse are related to an alleged incident around April 15.
Truman is currently held on a $100,000 cash bond at the Kanawha County Jail, without any charges directly linked to his stepdaughter’s death. His case has been transferred to the Kanawha County Circuit Court.
A recent statement from the police states: “During the execution of a search warrant on Offutt Drive on May 15, 2026, members of the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office located female human remains on the property. On May 18, 2026, the WV Office of the Chief Medical Examiner positively identified the remains as those of 16-year-old Shayln Shantel Harvey. This investigation remains active and ongoing.”