The sheriff’s office said the case is now being investigated as a homicide.
BIG CHIMNEY, W.Va. — Human remains found during a search at an Offutt Drive home were identified by an autopsy as 16-year-old Shayln Shantel Harvey, Kanawha County officials said as they opened a homicide investigation.
The identification answered one central question in the missing-teen case but left several others unresolved. The Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office said the West Virginia Office of the Chief Medical Examiner confirmed Harvey’s identity on May 18, three days after deputies found female human remains on the property. Officials did not release a cause of death, saying they were waiting for completed medical examiner findings. No homicide charge had been announced in connection with Harvey’s death in the latest public updates.
The medical examiner’s finding came after a search warrant was served May 15 at 355 Offutt Drive in Big Chimney. Investigators had been looking for Harvey, who was reported missing May 4 after last being seen May 2. The sheriff’s office had circulated a missing-juvenile notice with her name, age, clothing description and possible vehicle information. Deputies said she may have left in a blue Dodge Ram pickup from the early 2000s. She had been described as wearing black sweatpants and a blue shirt when last seen in the Big Chimney area.
Harvey’s stepfather, James Truman, 52, was already in custody when the remains were found, but his charges were not homicide charges. Deputies said Truman was arrested May 8 on sex-crime charges that came out of the missing-person investigation. Court records described by local investigators say detectives interviewed Truman at the Offutt Drive home on May 7. During that interview, he admitted to child sex crimes that mostly happened in April at the residence, according to the complaint. Truman was charged with sexual abuse by a parent, guardian, custodian or person in a position of trust, along with another sex-related offense.
Authorities have drawn a line between Truman’s pending sex-crime case and the separate homicide investigation, while also saying the charges are connected to Harvey. That distinction matters because the public record so far does not include a charge accusing anyone of killing her. Truman was held at South Central Regional Jail on a $100,000 cash-only bond. He later waived a preliminary hearing, according to local reports. Deputies declined to say whether he was considered a person of interest in Harvey’s disappearance or death. The sheriff’s office has not said whether additional charges are expected.
The search that led to the discovery was shaped by new information after the first missing-person report. Chief Deputy Sean Snuffer told reporters that investigators had factors that led them back to the property and that a judge had granted the search warrant. He did not release the substance of those factors. Local reporting said witnesses and neighbors helped guide deputies back to the home after Truman’s arrest. “We can’t release any information pertaining to the investigation at all,” Snuffer said during the search. He said investigators were checking areas of interest while cadaver dogs assisted.
The sheriff’s office said members of its agency executed the search warrant along with specially trained crews. Searchers found the remains during the operation, then sent them for examination. Before the identity was confirmed, Snuffer said investigators could not release more information. After the autopsy, the sheriff’s office said the remains were Harvey’s and that the case had become a homicide investigation. The office said detectives would continue to conduct interviews, process evidence and follow up on all leads associated with the case.
The public timeline has become a key part of the investigation. Harvey was last seen May 2. Truman filed the missing-person report, according to local reporting on court records. The sheriff’s office released the missing-juvenile notice May 4. Detectives interviewed Truman on May 7. He was arrested May 8. Deputies searched the Offutt Drive property on May 15. The remains were identified May 18. Officials have not publicly filled the gap between Harvey’s last sighting and the search that found her body, and they have not said when she died.
The Offutt Drive property was not a random search site. Deputies said Harvey lived there with her mother and stepfather. Investigators had gone to the home as they worked the missing-person report, then returned later with a warrant after gathering more information. The sheriff’s office has not accused Harvey’s mother of wrongdoing in public updates. It also has not released details about where on the property the remains were found. That limited information has kept the focus on the known procedural steps rather than speculation about the family or the final hours before Harvey disappeared.
For Kanawha County investigators, the case now rests on the medical examiner’s final report, forensic testing, witness interviews and records from the home and surrounding property. The sheriff’s office said additional information would be released when it becomes available and appropriate. The agency also offered condolences to Harvey’s family, friends and loved ones. As of the latest public statements, the case remained active, and Truman remained jailed on the separate child sex-abuse charges.
Author note: Last updated June 17, 2026.