Shelly Markley

Status:

Open

Jurisdiction:

Trumbull County Sheriffs Office (OH)

Missing From:

Bristolville, Ohio

Summary:

Shelly Markley disappeared on December 15, 1995, from Bristol Township, Ohio along with her husband John. She was last seen at a Bank One drive-thru at 10:36 a.m. where she withdrew $1,000 in cash accompanied by an unidentified man. Shelly was a devoted stay-at-home mother to their five children; their home was fully paid for and they had stocked their freezer with food for the winter. In 1999, the couple was declared legally dead.

Vital Statistics

Circumstances of Disappearance:

On Friday, December 15, 1995, Shelly and John Markley helped their children get ready for school, with Shelly putting her youngest son on the bus at approximately 8:30 am. They were last seen at approximately 10:36 a.m. at a Bank One drive-thru in Bloomfield, Ohio, where they withdrew $1,000 in cash. The bank teller recalled seeing John driving the pickup truck with Shelly in the middle seat and an unidentified man in the passenger seat. A $1,000 check was made out to cash and signed by Shelly from their account. Their children found the home empty that afternoon. There was no note explaining the Markleys' absence. The Chevrolet pickup was gone. The gun cabinet that was upstairs in the master bedroom that was never unlocked, was found opened. A small safe in the master bathroom also was open. Birth certificates and other papers were strewn about. The beds were unmade; in the kitchen, the coffee pot was still cooking and had nearly boiled dry. Shelly left her pack of Marlboro cigarettes on the kitchen counter. John Markley never left the car exposed. John's twin sister died of cancer two days before he and Shelly disappeared. Calling hours at the funeral home were at 5:30 p.m. the day they went missing, and the funeral was scheduled for the day after. John was very distraught over his sister's death and planned to go to the funeral home with his children. Their aunt and uncle reported John and Shelly's disappearance to the police at 12:30 a.m. the next day.

Additional Details:

John's missing truck was later found locked and abandoned in the parking lot of a store in Bristolville, Ohio, ten miles from his home. The keys were missing. Inside the cab was the couple's cellular phone, and in the bed of the truck was a tire for a semitrailer truck and the tarps that had been taken off the Corvette. In 1996, a man named Steven Durst contacted the Markley family, claiming to have been holding John and Shelly captive for ransom and demanding money. Steven was arrested in a failed money drop and was later convicted to extortion and was sentenced to 4-10 years in prison. Investigators later concluded that he likely had no information about the Markeys'. On December 29th, around 8 a.m., Gene gets another call at the Markley house from what sounds like this same man. He tells Gene that John and Shelley are alive and being held in Toronto and he can bring them home for $10,000. As of 2015, the Sheriff's Office had recently been investigating new information on the case. A couple of weeks prior, they had gotten some more leads on this and had interviewed three people the previous week and were looking for three more people to interview. Detective Tom Stewart has put in a lot of work on the case, and two large boxes were filled with papers and documents related to the investigation. The Sheriff's Department still had the Markley's pick up truck which was found abandoned in a parking lot on Elm Road in Warren.

Case Last Updated:

Aug 25, 2026