Deputies say Shayln Harvey’s remains were found during a search at an Offutt Drive property in Big Chimney.

BIG CHIMNEY, W.Va. — A missing 16-year-old girl was found dead on the property where she lived after deputies returned with a search warrant, turning a nearly two-week search in Kanawha County into a homicide investigation.

Kanawha County deputies identified the remains as those of Shayln Shantel Harvey after an autopsy on May 18. The finding gave investigators a confirmed death, but not a completed case. Officials said the cause of death was not being released while the West Virginia Office of the Chief Medical Examiner continued its work. The sheriff’s office said detectives were still interviewing people, processing evidence and following leads tied to Harvey’s disappearance and death.

The case began publicly on May 4, when the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office said Harvey was missing. Deputies said she had last been seen May 2 in the Big Chimney area, a small community north of Charleston along the Elk River. The first notice described her as a 16-year-old girl and said she had been wearing black sweatpants and a blue shirt. Investigators said she may have left in a blue Dodge Ram pickup from the early 2000s. At that point, the public case was still a search for a missing juvenile, and deputies listed detectives for tips while they tried to track her last known movements.

Within days, the inquiry reached the Offutt Drive home where Harvey lived with her mother and stepfather, James Truman, 52. Local court records described by investigators say Truman filed the missing-person report. Detectives later interviewed him at the home on May 7 while following up on the report. During that interview, according to a criminal complaint cited by local authorities, Truman admitted to child sex crimes that mostly occurred in April at the residence. He was arrested May 8 on charges that deputies said were separate from the death investigation but connected to Harvey. He was held at South Central Regional Jail on a $100,000 cash-only bond.

Deputies returned to the property May 15 with a search warrant. The search covered the residence and surrounding property at 355 Offutt Drive. Chief Deputy Sean Snuffer said at a news conference that investigators were looking for evidence that could show where Harvey was. Search teams included deputies, detectives and specially trained crews. Cadaver dogs from West Virginia Search and Rescue were brought to the site. “They’re looking for any evidence of where Shayln may be,” Snuffer said during the search. Hours later, deputies said female human remains had been found on the property.

The discovery did not immediately end the uncertainty. Snuffer said investigators could not release details about the remains before the medical examiner confirmed an identity. The sheriff’s office said the remains were taken to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for examination. On May 18, the agency said the autopsy had identified them as Harvey. The office also said more information would be released only when appropriate. The case then moved from a missing-person investigation to a homicide investigation, a change that meant detectives were examining who caused Harvey’s death and how it happened.

The search also raised questions about what happened between May 2, when Harvey was last reported seen, and May 15, when the remains were found at the same property investigators had already visited. Snuffer said factors in the investigation led deputies back to the home, but he declined to describe those factors. Local reporting said witnesses and neighbors helped point investigators back to the Offutt Drive property after Truman’s arrest. Deputies have not publicly said whether Truman is considered a suspect or person of interest in Harvey’s death. No homicide charge had been announced in the case as of the sheriff’s latest public updates.

Truman’s criminal case was moving separately from the homicide inquiry. Deputies said he was charged with sexual abuse by a parent, guardian, custodian or person in a position of trust, along with another sex-related charge. The charges stemmed from statements and records tied to the missing-person investigation, not from a public finding on how Harvey died. He waived a preliminary hearing after his arrest, according to local reporting. The sheriff’s office has not said whether the abuse case will expand or whether prosecutors are reviewing further charges linked to the death investigation.

Big Chimney sits in a narrow valley area where homes, hillsides and local roads sit close together. The search on Offutt Drive drew deputies and specialized crews to a residential property that had already become central to the missing teen’s case. Images from the area showed law enforcement vehicles near the search site. Officials gave few public details about the exact location of the remains on the property or the condition in which they were found. The sheriff’s office extended condolences to Harvey’s family, friends and loved ones, saying the case remained active.

Investigators said the next steps include more interviews, more evidence processing and the final findings from the medical examiner. The known timeline now runs from Harvey’s last reported sighting on May 2 to the missing-person notice on May 4, Truman’s arrest on May 8, the search and discovery on May 15, and the identification on May 18. The sheriff’s office has not released a cause of death or named a homicide suspect.

Author note: Last updated June 17, 2026.