Talkline with Hoppy Kercheval  Watch |  Listen
11:00am: Darian DeVries Introduction Press Conference

3 indicted for allegedly faking U.S. Coast Guard member’s death

WHEELING, W.Va. — A Martinsburg man who allegedly faked his own death to desert from the U.S. Coast Guard now faces federal charges along with his wife and another Berkeley County man.

Larry Shelby, 33, along with Karen Shelby, 33, and Jeffery York, 32, all of Martinsburg, were recently indicted on hoax and conspiracy charges for allegedly tricking U.S. Coast Guard officials, law enforcement officers and even the three Shelby children who were 14, 13 and 8 at the time.

Bill Ihlenfeld, the U.S. Attorney for West Virginia’s Northern District, said Larry Shelby, who was a noncommissioned officer in the U.S. Coast Guard, plotted to fake his death in 2013 because he believed he was in serious trouble.

“He thought he had perhaps leaked some information that he shouldn’t have and the U.S. Coast Guard investigated that,” Ihlenfeld said. “While there was some information put out there, it was nothing that would rise to the level that he thought it might.”

As part of the scheme, Larry Shelby allegedly abandoned his vehicle, wrote suicide notes and then hid out in a remote Gilmer County cabin. His kids were shown those notes and believed their father was dead, Ihlenfeld said.

Karen Shelby and York allegedly reported Larry Shelby missing and claimed they did not know his location.

The U.S. Coast Guard spent more than $100,000 looking for him. In addition to the U.S. Coast Guard, Maryland state police, the National Park Service, the Berkeley County sheriff’s department, Harpers Ferry police, Martinsburg police, Chesapeake Search & Rescue K-9 and Mid-Atlantic D.O.G.S., Inc. were part of the search.

In February 2014, according to federal prosecutors, Larry Shelby returned to his Martinsburg home where he hid out until June. At first, Ihlenfeld said, the kids did not know their father was hiding out in the family basement.

“Eventually, (Larry and Karen Shelby) surprised the children and advised their three children that their father was actually alive, but they instructed them not to tell anyone that he was in fact living in their house,” Ihlenfeld said.

Then someone alerted police.

“Police in Martinsburg received an anonymous tip that Mr. Shelby was alive and well and living in his home in Martinsburg and so they began to conduct surveillance and, when he left the house one day last year, they did a traffic stop,” according to Ihlenfeld who said Shelby originally claimed to be York.

If convicted of the federal charges, the three could face prison sentences of more than a decade behind bars.

Ihlenfeld was a guest on Thursday’s MetroNews “Talkline.”





More News

News
Lottery reports $50,000 Powerball ticket sold in Charleston
Four numbers and Power Ball matched.
March 28, 2024 - 10:24 am
News
MetroNews This Morning 3-28-24
Summary of West Virginia news/sports/weather for Thursday, March 28, 2024
March 28, 2024 - 6:25 am
News
PSC approves settlements involving Mon Power, net-metering cases
Rate increase went into effect Tuesday.
March 27, 2024 - 9:42 pm
News
Speakers at Focus Forward symposium discuss AI capabilities in West Virginia
The event was organized by the West Virginia Public Education Collaborative and the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation.
March 27, 2024 - 8:30 pm


Your Comments