WV WV - Cold cases

bbrubaker

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Hi,

I'm a reporter with The Dominion Post in Morgantown, WV and am doing a new weekly feature on area cold cases.

If you all know of any cold cases from the Monongalia/ Preston/ Marion county area, please let me know. I'll check this thread so you can post them here.

Thanks,
Brandy Brubaker
The Dominion Post
 
Brandy

I have a brother that is missing and kidnapped at age 5mon from Weirton WV I think it is Hancock County. How far is that from there? Close enough to do a story on him?

Betty
 
There is this UID, found in Wetzel County (adjacent Monongalia County), in 1983:

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/56ufwv.html

And this woman, missing since 1974 from Marshall County (just north of your area of interest):

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1788dfwv.html

This woman, missing from Morgantown since 1988:

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/564dfwv.html

Though its not in the geographic area you mention, you can also check out the thread of the missing Sodder children from 1945 in Fayette County, more media attention for that case is always welcome.
 
There is also the murders of two coeds from WVU which occurred in 1970. Though not a true "cold case", there is still plenty of discussion and controversy surrounding the case.
Karen Ferrell and Mared Malarik were kidnapped from Morgantown on the night of January 18th, 1970. Four months later, their decapitated bodies were found along an old mining road. Their heads were never recovered.
Six years later, Eugene Paul Clawson confessed to the murders. Following his conviction, he recanted. There are some, including members of law enforcement, who feel that Clawson is innocent or, at the least, did not act alone.

Then there are these, from the WVSP website:

"The West Virginia State Police is assisting the Pennsylvania State Police with the investigation of a missing Pennsylvania man that, according to family members, has been missing since October 12, 2001. The missing man has been identified as thirty year old Jerry Lee Cushey.The West Virginia State Police, at the request of the family, has conducted a total of four ground searches and four water searches, including one water search on this date. The searches have been concentrated around the Cheat Lake area in Monongalia County."

"On Wednesday night, December 1, 1999, Mary Geneva Friend and Marcus Maxine Stalnaker disappeared from their residence near Jane Lew, Lewis County, West Virginia. Friend's vehicle was recovered abandoned in Clarksburg, Harrison County, West Virginia, on Monday, December 6, 1999".
 
I live in the Eastern Panhandle. We border West Virginia, Maryland and Virginia. Route 340 is a major road. Too many unsolved killings in this area. I often wonder in truckers are the killers?

Three homosexual unsolved murders are cold cases in Maryland. A woman told me that she believes they ARE NOT being investigated because they were homosexuals.

They were murdered is what locals call Pickle Park. Of course this is not the name of the location. Apparently, it's okay to ridicule these poor victims. They'll never be solved. :(
 
Brandy,

Marsha Ferber went missing from Morgantown on a Sunday in the spring 1988 (April, as I remember). She was the owner of the Underground Railroad (now 123 Pleasant) and the Earth House (quasi-communal living place up College from the 'Lair). Many rumors swirled around her disappearance, the most persistant of which was that she was buried in the walls of the Met Theatre. Apparently, police tracked her to a restaurant on the south shore of Lake Eerie, where she had dinner with a friend. From there, they lost her trail. I can probably point you in several directions if you are interested in following this up.

Geocam
 
Brandy,

Marsha Ferber went missing from Morgantown on a Sunday in the spring 1988 (April, as I remember). She was the owner of the Underground Railroad (now 123 Pleasant) and the Earth House (quasi-communal living place up College from the 'Lair). Many rumors swirled around her disappearance, the most persistant of which was that she was buried in the walls of the Met Theatre. Apparently, police tracked her to a restaurant on the south shore of Lake Eerie, where she had dinner with a friend. From there, they lost her trail. I can probably point you in several directions if you are interested in following this up.

Geocam

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/f/ferber_marsha.html
 
Jerry Lee Cushey

He lived in PA but his vehicle was found in Morgantown, WV. It was found with a stick on the gas pedal and had been wrecked into a tree. His friend reported that Cushey had stole the vehicle and $1500 from him before he disappeared. That same friend had earlier driven Cushey's father's vehicle back to his father's and parked it. He was also later charged with impersonating Cushey. The whole case is convaluted. The Dominion Post seems to have already ran an article about it.

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/c/cushey_jerry.html
 
Jerry Lee Cushey

He lived in PA but his vehicle was found in Morgantown, WV. It was found with a stick on the gas pedal and had been wrecked into a tree. His friend reported that Cushey had stole the vehicle and $1500 from him before he disappeared. That same friend had earlier driven Cushey's father's vehicle back to his father's and parked it. He was also later charged with impersonating Cushey. The whole case is convaluted. The Dominion Post seems to have already ran an article about it.

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/c/cushey_jerry.html

The van, which had been driven over an embankment, was stopped by a tree from entering into the water (and presumably disappearing). After the vehicle was found, Myers reported it stolen by Cushey. Police then returned it.
Myers later admitted to returning Cushey's father's Jeep to the father's home (Cushey had borrowed it before he disappeared); the vehicle had been wiped clean of prints.
Myers admitted to impersonating Cushey over the phone and telling family members that he was in another state and doing fine.

Seems to me that the van was most likely ditched to hide evidence, and the Jeep returned to the father in an attempt to hide the fact that Cushey had gone missing....
 
The van, which had been driven over an embankment, was stopped by a tree from entering into the water (and presumably disappearing). After the vehicle was found, Myers reported it stolen by Cushey. Police then returned it.
Myers later admitted to returning Cushey's father's Jeep to the father's home (Cushey had borrowed it before he disappeared); the vehicle had been wiped clean of prints.
Myers admitted to impersonating Cushey over the phone and telling family members that he was in another state and doing fine.

Seems to me that the van was most likely ditched to hide evidence, and the Jeep returned to the father in an attempt to hide the fact that Cushey had gone missing....


Oh yeah, I agree. I think Myers murdered his friend and staged the 'accident.' It would be an interesting story for bbrubaker to do a follow-up on.
 
When I was looking at missing persons/unsolved crimes in WV I was struck at how many missing persons there are from Beckley, WV.


http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/c/carter_natasha.html - 2000/Abducted by her non-custodial mother

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/d/dodd_margret.html ( was seen being forced, screaming, into a vehicle - man contacted her parents demanding ransom/undercover cop posing as the father went to meet this man who held a 'gun' to the cops head demanding the money an FBI agent hiding in a car shot and killed him. Turns out his gun was a pencil and he had nothing to do with Dodd's abduction.)

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/m/melton_gary.html (last seen in Beckley)

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/r/reedy_juanita.html (last seen in Beckley, car found stripped and burned)

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/s/stephens_angela.html (last seen in Beckley - dropped husband off at work and vanished)
 
Greenbrier County WV has it's share of UNID'S too
 
CONTACT STEVEN G. FISCHER, CHIEF OF STAFF, 724-228-6790

Media Advisory- Press Conference Scheduled

ANNOUNCEMENT IN GRAND JURY PRESENTMENT

When: 3 PM, Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Where: PA State Police barracks, 560 Circle Drive Belle Vernon, PA 15012

What: District Attorney Steven M. Toprani and PA State Police are to have an important announcement in the nine-year old cold case homicide investigation of Jerry Lee Cushey, Jr.

Who: Pennsylvania State Police and Washington County District Attorney Steven Toprani,

PRESS RELEASE TO FOLLOW NEWS CONFERENCE

# # #

--
Steven Fischer
 
Then there are these, from the WVSP website:

"The West Virginia State Police is assisting the Pennsylvania State Police with the investigation of a missing Pennsylvania man that, according to family members, has been missing since October 12, 2001. The missing man has been identified as thirty year old Jerry Lee Cushey.The West Virginia State Police, at the request of the family, has conducted a total of four ground searches and four water searches, including one water search on this date. The searches have been concentrated around the Cheat Lake area in Monongalia County."

Suspect ordered to trial http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10237/1082559-100.stm
 
Greenbrier County WV has it's share of UNID'S too

I'd believe this. Pendleton, Pocahontas, and maybe Randolph Counties as well. Go there frequently to hike, and have always thought that somebody with very bad intentions wouldn't have to look too hard off of, say Cheat Mountain, to hide somebody, then somebody finds them months later during a hike...and we all know the rest.
 
There was a body found in an abanded camper in jefferson county.Wv I was wondering if they ever found the identy of this young man.
 

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