A missing report of Heather Sheppard was filed by her family members on July 3, when she was unable to be located for several days beginning from June 29. They were getting concerned for her safety, according to WJXT-TV.
The officials started the search and investigation of the case. Jacksonville County Sheriff’s Office deputies progressed to check out Heather at an address on the 5300 Block of Timuquana Road but got no response. With the continuation of the investigation, Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office (JSO) missing person detectives located the remains at a home in the 5300 block of Colonial Avenue in an advanced state of decomposition. These were discovered on July 5, Wednesday near about 3 pm.
Neighbors shared that they also smelled a foul odor a few days before noticing the remains.
As per News4JAX, “What we were told by the family was that they always had daily contact. The former husband, ex-husband talked to Heather daily. And then Heather, the mother, was on Facebook often during the day,” said Robert Bracewell with the Justice Coalition.
According to Yahoo, “When JSO was asked where the remains were found a spokesperson answered, “They were actually on the porch — kinda in-between (the front of the house).”
Because of the advanced state of decomposition — we don’t have the information that was shared with the medical examiner’s office, which included tattoos and other items that were on that body, so they will be able to match it up if it is indeed the individual related to this case,” in the words of JSO Seargant Highfill.
A person who might be involved in the incident has been detained for questioning till further investigation.
Earlier it was not clear that the remains were of the same missing person or someone else, but Police said this is being listed as an undetermined death until autopsy results come back from the medical examiner’s office- Yahoo. Moreover, it was also concluded that both the persons the one who is detained and the one who was missing both stayed at that home.
And later in the autopsy, it was confirmed that the remains were of the missing lady Heather Sheppard but no reason behind the death was disclosed.
In conformity with WLTV reports, “Shannon McCarthy was apprehended and charged as the prime suspect in the case. Along with this, the court records revealed that the pair was in a relationship and had a history of domestic disputes. In the month of January, McCarthy was inculpated with battery but was out on bond. But her bond was annulled soon after the discovery of the remains of Heather. For this, she was set to appear in court later this month, according to true crime daily.
In addition to this as per true crime daily, Heather apparently informed the Sheriff’s office that she got several threatening text messages on February 5 from Shannon. Furthermore, she was assaulted by her on January 29 which gave Heather severe head injuries and she was recovering from that at that time. All this led Heather to fear for her life and the rest is easily noticed.
