The investigation focused on the home where Shayln Harvey lived with her mother and stepfather.
BIG CHIMNEY, W.Va. — Deputies searching a residential property in this Kanawha County community found the remains of 16-year-old Shayln Shantel Harvey, ending a missing-person search and beginning a homicide investigation.
The discovery on Offutt Drive placed the center of the case at the home where Harvey had lived. The Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office said the remains were found May 15 during a search warrant at 355 Offutt Drive and were identified three days later by the medical examiner. The case has moved into a new stage focused on how Harvey died, who was involved and what evidence can be recovered from the property, interviews and records.
Big Chimney is a small unincorporated area north of Charleston, where homes sit near winding roads, wooded hills and the Elk River corridor. On May 15, that local setting became a search scene. Deputies, detectives, specially trained crews and cadaver dogs worked on and around the property while officials gave limited updates to reporters. Chief Deputy Sean Snuffer said the warrant had been granted after investigators gathered information that led them back to the site. He did not say what that information was, only that searchers were looking for evidence that could point them toward Harvey.
The search had started as a missing-juvenile case. The sheriff’s office issued a public notice May 4 saying Harvey was missing and had last been seen May 2 in the Big Chimney area. The notice said she was wearing black sweatpants and a blue shirt. It also said she may have left in a blue Dodge Ram pickup from the early 2000s. At the time, deputies were seeking help locating a teenager. Less than two weeks later, they were guarding a property where human remains had been found.
The home had already drawn investigators before the May 15 warrant. Local reporting on court records said Harvey’s stepfather, James Truman, 52, filed the missing-person report. Detectives interviewed Truman at the Offutt Drive home on May 7. During that interview, according to a criminal complaint described by authorities, Truman admitted to child sex crimes that mostly happened in April at the residence. He was arrested May 8. Deputies said the charges were connected to Harvey but separate from the investigation into her death.
Truman was charged with sexual abuse by a parent, guardian, custodian or person in a position of trust, along with another sex-related offense. He was being held at South Central Regional Jail on a $100,000 cash-only bond. Local reports said he waived a preliminary hearing after his arrest. The sheriff’s office has not announced a homicide charge against him or anyone else. Deputies have also declined to say whether Truman is considered a person of interest in Harvey’s disappearance or death, leaving that part of the investigation publicly unresolved.
Neighbors and witnesses appear to have played a role in bringing deputies back to Offutt Drive. Local reporting said information from people in the area helped lead investigators to the property after Truman’s arrest. Snuffer said during the May 15 search that the department had factors that led to the warrant. “There’s some areas of interest they are checking right now,” he said as searchers worked. He also said cadaver dogs had been brought in to assist. Later that day, deputies announced that female human remains had been found.
The first announcement did not name Harvey as the person found. Officials said the remains were being sent to the state medical examiner for identification. That caution reflected the stage of the case at the time, when investigators had discovered remains but still needed a formal medical finding. On May 18, the sheriff’s office said an autopsy had confirmed the remains were Harvey’s. The agency said it would not release the cause of death while the medical examiner’s findings remained pending. It then said the missing-juvenile case was now a homicide investigation.
The sheriff’s office has given a clear outline of what investigators are doing next, but not the evidence they have found. Detectives are continuing interviews, processing evidence and following leads. The property remains central because it was Harvey’s home, the place where Truman was interviewed and arrested, and the place where the remains were found. The office has not said where on the property the remains were located, whether a weapon was found, whether any vehicle is still part of the case, or whether investigators believe Harvey died at the home.
The case has also left a short but important timeline under review. Harvey was last seen May 2. The missing notice went out May 4. Truman was interviewed May 7 and arrested May 8. Deputies returned with a search warrant May 15. The medical examiner identified Harvey on May 18. Officials have not publicly said what happened during the days after her last sighting, why she was first believed to possibly have left in a truck, or what changed in the investigation before the warrant was served.
By the time the sheriff’s office issued its May 18 update, the public search for a missing teen had ended and a homicide case had begun. The agency offered condolences to Harvey’s relatives and friends and said more information would be released when available and appropriate. The next public milestones are the medical examiner’s final findings and any court action tied to the death investigation.
Author note: Last updated June 17, 2026.