Disappearance of John and Shelly Markley

John and Shelly Markley disappeared from their home in Bristol Township, Ohio, on Friday, December 15, 1995. That morning, Shelly put her youngest son on the school bus at approximately 8:30 a.m. The couple's whereabouts were then unaccounted for until about 10:36 a.m., when they were seen at a Bank One drive-thru window in Bloomfield, Ohio, roughly five miles from their home. A bank teller recalled John driving their pickup truck, Shelly seated in the middle, and an unidentified man in the passenger seat. A check for $1,000, signed by Shelly, was cashed during this visit.

When the Markleys' children returned home that afternoon, they found the house unlocked and empty, with no note left behind. Several details struck investigators and family as unusual: the coffee pot was still running, John's wristwatch—an item he rarely removed—was left on a shelf, and Shelly's cigarettes and lighter, which she normally carried, were left behind. A gun cabinet in the master bedroom, usually kept locked, was open and a gun was missing. A small safe was found open with its papers scattered, and protective tarps for John's 1978 Chevrolet Corvette were also gone. The following day, when the couple failed to appear at the funeral of John's sister, relatives reported them missing.

John's 1990 Chevrolet pickup truck was later found abandoned and locked on Elm Road in Warren, Ohio, about ten miles from the Markley home. The truck's keys were missing, the couple's cellphones were found inside, and the garage tarps were located in the truck bed. The vehicle was covered in mud, which investigators noted was inconsistent with John's usual meticulous care of his vehicles.

In the weeks following the disappearance, law enforcement and hundreds of volunteers searched the surrounding area, using helicopters for aerial searches and divers to check nearby bodies of water, including Nelson Ledges, Mosquito Lake, and Lake Milton. No trace of John or Shelly was found.

In 1996, a man named Steven Durst contacted the Markley family, claiming to be holding John and Shelly captive for ransom. Durst was arrested following a failed money drop and was later convicted of extortion, receiving a sentence of four to ten years in prison. Investigators subsequently concluded that he likely had no genuine information about the couple's whereabouts.

In 1999, John and Shelly Markley were declared legally dead. The case has remained unsolved since, with few new leads, and was still listed as open as of 2015. Public theories have ranged from voluntary disappearance—though this does not account for the couple leaving behind their five children—to foul play, given the timing of the bank withdrawal, the presence of an unidentified third person, and signs suggesting the home may have been burgled.