Shasta Himelrick went missing in Ohio around Christmas; first her car was found abandoned, and then her body was found in a river in early 2015. I don’t believe there’s an official cause of death on this case just yet, but there have been reports that blood was on the headrest in the car when found abandoned. This one got some attention because Shasta was reportedly pregnant at the time — had told her family over the holidays — which bears some resemblance to the Kelsie Schelling case in Colorado. There was also a good profile recently of Shasta in the eyes of some of her friends, and here’s one of her final tweets.
Im actually excited for Christmas this year. Not because it's Christmas but because im really happy. I love my… http://t.co/BQrmPXAMkR
— SnowBunny (@ShastaBlasta_) December 24, 2014
Her man was apparently Michael Owes — and you need to start there on thinking about what might have happened to Shasta Himelrick.
Start with this:
Ross Co Sheriff confirms that Michael Owes, Shasta Himelrick's boyfriend, is in jail on charges unrelated to her disappearance.
— Matt Bruning (@mbruning81) December 31, 2014
We should emphasize, of course, that it was unrelated charges.
Michael Owes is on Facebook listing Michelle Frankel as his girlfriend since October 26, 2006. The thing is, Michelle Frankel died in April (around the time Shasta was being arrested on drug charges). The Haller Funeral Home obituary writes that Michelle K Frankel died “unexpectedly April 28, 2014 at Adena Regional Medical Center.” The details surrounding Frankel’s death aren’t immediately known, but it is known that her brother is also dead (in unrelated incidents, reportedly). It’s rumored that drug use is responsible for one or both of these deaths.
If you look around at Owes’ Facebook, there’s some typical stuff you might see: American Gangster references, some weed videos, and a cryptic status about whether anyone has a blueprint for life.
There are some reports that Shasta Himelrick was picked up in April 2014 for drug charges (pipes, potentially) and at the time was listed as “homeless” on the intake form.
Seems like the general narrative here could be this:
- Himelrick was a great person, but a flawed one — just like all of us are.
- She was maybe involved with drugs back in the day, even as recently as last spring.
- Got in this relationship with Owes, they loved each other (or she loved him), and they got pregnant.
- Within about 48 hours of telling people (or at least telling her family), she goes missing.
To me, that points predominantly at Owes — but there could be other people involved, like former connections in the drug scene, etc. It could also be random.
If you look at the car being found as a decisive piece of evidence, there’s a couple of things to remember about that:
- It was out of gas and the battery was dead, which means it could have been a breakdown situation.
- Her grandmother and others, though, have told the media that the rural area where it was located — by some train tracks — isn’t anywhere that Shasta Himelrick would ever need to be.
Here’s a screenshot of the area where the car was supposedly found, via the good people at Websleuths:
As always, if you live in the area or know this case personally well, feel free to leave something in the comments for context.
yes but the car could of just been running and ran out of gas that way! i think he is guilty! andon her site it said HE found her car and moved it! i would throw the book at him
Mike didnt go get the car. It didnt belong to Shasta. It was in someone else’s name. So the person that owns the car was called to come pick up the abandoned car. .not knowing at the time that Shasta was missing. They picked it up only to have the Sheriff impound it for evidence later on that afternoon.
The car belonged to mikes brother and him and mike went and got it before even telling the cops shasta was missing!
Shasta has been my child hood friend since we were 8yrs old, i know her quite well. She did have drug problem which was heroin, when she got with Mike she stopped doing it, i don’t know if she was clean of everything else but besides that shasta was a really good person and she cared about alot of people, and a lot cared about her, she had told me a few months back that she couldn’t have kids, and it truly devastated her. She has told me before that she was too selfish to have kids because she loved drugs too much, those were the bad days going down the wrong path,so it was an extreme surprise to me that she was happy about being pregnant, i even asked her if she was in her mind ready for this, she said she is actually happy , we had the babytalk about stuff , and i was extremely ecstatic for her. Shasta did not do this to herself, someone did and the story doesn’t add up. Thank you so much for posting this article, this is a tragic loss but im still hoping that she gets justice. Im sorry this is long but no one seems to care, authority wise.
Really appreciate these thoughts; seems like you know the case pretty well.
thanks for the kind words for Shasta, me and her mother are beside ourselves trying to make sense of this , we don’t know if mike had any thing to do with her death, but there are things that don’t add up ,mike passed a poloygraph and had some guy whitey was at shastas ( house about maybe 2 miles from where they found shastas car) and gave the same story as mike to the police officer, so they didn’t look at those two any farther. me and shastas mother dean don’t believe that Shasta committed suicide on a private venue I will disclose more. the thing we need to do is find out why the ross county sherrif and chili police are treating us family members as suspects with them not allowing us to be there to claim Shasta, to having the car towed to a private residence then they came after mike had done gone through the car, we have never received shastas phone or seen any of the texts, there is something wrong with all this and I believe the rosss county sheriff dept are either very dysfunctional, or are hiding something or someone from the families and citizens of ross county
Time frame of telling family and friends of her pregnancy is inaccurate. Actually stated on her Facebook Page Dec. 18th…….
Thanks for pointing this out.
She told the friend she couldn’t have kids, she (the friend)doesn’t mention when Shasta said she was pregnant.
in all actualality Shasta had called her mother I took the call dean was at work, and she told me , asked what I thought her mom would have to say and I told her to call her mommma, this was around the the middle of December, we talked to Shasta the afternoon she went missing and though she wasn’t feeling very good that day, she was in good spirits and was talking about the baby, and making plans to come out and visit us in Colorado, she wished us both a merry Christmas and we did the same expressed her love and how she couldn’t wait for the Christmas we had sent for her and mike and his other children, she was stocked to be part of this new family she was making.so don’t always believe what ya read on the net or in print
I’m from Chillicothe, Ohio lived here my whole life. My daughter knew Shasta and says she was a nice girl. First, the boyfriend was IN jail while this was going on and was in there when she went missing. That was the reason for the post by Matt Brunning. Second, the brother and sister you talked about both died from accidental heroin overdoses within a few months of each other. Third, and finally, rumor has it that when this girl had got into the trouble with the law, that you mentioned, and police were questioning her she supposedly gave up names of some drug dealers and supposedly they’re the ones responsible. Again, like I said, this last part is the rumor going around town which I’m sure is one of many but makes the most sense.
@Chilligirl no he was not locked up he was partying while she was missing..you shouldn’t say things you don’t know
Definitely keep it above board; we want information about this case to get out there so that it’s SOLVED, but we don’t necessarily want to flame the wrong people. Michael or James or anyone else is still innocent until the authorities have the right information. That’s how the system should work.
if your talking bout mike a friend is right, and might I add he continued even after we found Shasta, mike is a real piece of work , he was at shastas house the night she went missing with some other guy namend whitey that’s why they didn’t look at mike any harder because we and whitey told the same story, rehearsed , truth don’t know
Nope Mike was not in jail when this was going on he was in Shasta’s house drinking and drugging with several people…..
How do you know this stuff, Joshua?
you are incorrect in saying Michael Owes was in jail when Shasta went missing – take a good look at the date Matt posted his comment – DEC 31, 2014….Shasta went missing sometime on the 26th…pay attention to the details lady
No he wasn’t in jail when this happened. He was arrested during the time we were searching for her..
yeah and my goals is black and she was white ain’t nobody going to put the racism card out there are they what are you scared typical typical typical blame the black guy first because he was with the white girl stop looking at the black guy and also look at the races family members
I was in the car with Mike and Shasta when Mike hit Shasta and another girl. I would put the blame on mike if he were white, Asian, Mexican, or even from outer space.
Joshua how come you never told me or dean about this?
yeah sure you were.
They are looking at everyone. I’m tired of people playing the race card as you are playing the race card. You’re telling people not to play the race card but you’re using it to get suspicion off of somebody. Whether he did it or not I have no clue. However, using the race card is ridiculous because I don’t even see anybody saying anything negative in any recent comments about the fact that she was white and he was black. If he was white they would still be looking at him especially in the same circumstances. He was partying at her house when she went missing! He did not help search for her! It doesn’t matter what skin color you are. It’s odd behavior for a man who was having a baby with somebody you supposedly loved. Furthermore his Facebook page never was updated for Shasta and his relationship nor do I see anything about his children on there except for the fact he neglects them. Even family members post on his Facebook, at least one of them out of the few that he has, asking him to visit his children in regards to a post he made about not being around. He obviously was not taking care of his other children why would he want to take care of this child? There’s barely any proof that he was dating Shasta if you look through social media. She’s the only one that talked about the relationship. I heard that there has been a lot of deletions of comments which is even stranger. You cannot roll him out and you were saying people are accusing him because he’s black but people are accusing him because the boyfriend always gets accused and the suspicious nature of how she died warrants suspicious thoughts and his actions are what is bringing people to conclusions. Not his race. I’m not oblivious to the fact that that happens. When a black man dates a white girl… I get what you’re saying but it has nothing to do with this case whatsoever. I think that’s quite obvious and I think a lot of people know more than they are saying.
im glad someone said it… truly its too clear what happened here..also James Ragland (Whitey) should be investigated as well. He has beat her to the point of sending her into the ER over cocaine. Thats where she was going that night in the first place was to where Whitey was staying. She went missing between Mike and Whitey and both are partners.
Shasta and michelle frankle were facebook friends….. And shasta ends up pregnant just 7 mnths by mike after his girl dies. Every one dying of h overdoses..who is selling this dope.. Is it the same person…. How well were shasta n michelle friends….
thanks for whiteys real name, we knew about the fight that happened with her and whitey, she called us from the hospital, but didn’t tell us the everything until a few weeks later
Do you have any links about “Whitey” beating her? Is this fact?
That’s very interesting to me seeing that her best friend recently got busted for cocaine along with a lot of other people who one of them I believe was Whitey.
Well the thing about this case that was not mentioned in this article is that she is one of several others who went missing. Two including Shasta, were found in a river. Shasta was found in Scioto river and Tameka Lynch in paint creek. The other women have not been located. All the women had one thing in common (drugs) and for that reason our wonderful police department is doing absolutely nothing to solve these murders. They even listed Tameka Lynch’s death as on over dose. Let me guess she overdosed and then decided to go for a swim in a creek that is as large as a river that not even a professional swimmer would survive in. I understand how one would consider Owes, but with all the other women still missing i believe Chillicothe has a sicko at large.. I have lived here for 35 years and until a year ago, when women started disappearing i felt safe walking the streets alone, on any given day. And another thing, her car was out of gas because it was running from the time he put her over the bridge until hours later when car was found. She just left a gas station at 3 am. Someone, anyone who may be reading this please Chillicothe, OHIO needs help and our PD, and SD are simply not qualified to handle situations like this.. WE NEED HELP HERE.. I HAVE A DAUGHTER…..
This is really interesting and I didn’t know this. Got links on some of the other stories?
http://www.nbc4i.com/story/25601139/chillicothe-police-searching-for-3-missing-women
No but google missing chillicothe women… Also they all have Facebook pages set up for them..
hold ya daughter tight is all I can say, and that doesn’t rule mike out nor does it make him guilty, but I do agree that the ross county officials are dropping the ball. Shasta was a excellent swimmer,as well ,
I believe she was attacked, a robbery gone wrong, Mike said that he called her a little bit after 3am, said she was passing the old school house which is on old 35, and was also said that the car was talking out of the crime scene, and there were things taken out of the car, he had her cell phone, said it was dead yet when it was given to get grandma it was charged, and I’m sorry to say, but if that was my girlfriend and she went missing and car was found with bloodinit i would be searching day and night for her, the first day of the search party he was there and a couple of tfriends, we were waiting to get the okay for the search and rescue team to be able to search, but they got denied, the next day search continued and i had talked to someone who was part of our search, i asked how he was holding up, she said”oh he is just so determined to find her, yet him and whitey were just walking back and forth across the bridge, while others were out in the sticks and mud, he didn’t seem very determined, and the t rest of the days the search party continued he was not there, and our police department admitted that they sat on their asses for 2 days and did nothing. After a confrontation with some of the family, just trying to figure out why they wanted to stop the search for the day even though it was still daylight. I was there first hand, i know this. I really hope that someone out there will take this case under control and figure out what happened to her , and it was said that there would be no services for her but her mom has something arranged at her bfs mothers house, but no one was invited, how sad is that, he was there, I’m starting to believe alot more people are involved in this then we think, and Joshua if you know something then you should be contacting someone who is handling this case, this was not an overdose, not a suicide, she was murdered, .
This is interesting stuff, Kendra. Thanks for explaining.
yes its true we did have a private ceremony the day we got shastas remains back and all of shastas family was invited ask Shirley,yes mike was allowed to attend, we kept it private for our personal reasons and that should be good enough , where was all you when she was needing help, when she was trying to kick her addiction , I never saw ay of you all at the sheriff station or on visitation day at jail, now you concerned? what about giving her a ride to counseling, where was ya all,we was not going to have a bunch of people fake or real hovering over her casket,until you have lost a child in this manner don’t judge please.
Thank you for all the concerns & comments concerning Shastas death. I am Shastas cousin. Mike Owes passed a lie detector test about Shastas death. Now we all know that these are not conclusive so I dont know how this will all turn out. When me & her Grandmother went to pick up her death certificate on Thursday, we were told that the cause of death had not yet been determined. And we are still waiting on toxicology reports. I was at the memorial for Shasta at her mothers boyfriends home. It was not opened up to the public for whatever reason, but yes…Mike was there. The statement that was made about him being in jail at the time of her death are incorrect. He was at a friends house. It was after they discovered she was missing when they picked Mike up for driving charges. ..nothing at all to do with this case. I dont know who did this, but we…her family…needs closure. We are hoping that the toxocology report reveals a lot more or what she had gone thru that day. And just to clarify…she had started telling friends & family she was pregnant the weekend before her disappearance.
This is great info.
I completely agree with everything you said Kendra. Everyone has been so fishy about this situation, and why would you be!? We should all just be trying to find justice! Most of these people are just concerned about getting attention for themselves and I am more than sick of it. We’ll get her justice, and whomever the mother fucker is that knows, or did it will rot in hell where they belong. I would have very much loved to say goodbye to my friend properly, but besides that, I am so sick of seeing anyone who doesn’t know her, or what they’re talking about even speak. Just worry about finding justice for her, she was murdered, let that be the concern.
I can guarantee Josh has and will continue to help in any way possible, just like we all have since she was little.
A lot of people are focusing on the blood. I just want to comment that there was not a lot of blood found and she was doing heroin and most likely was shooting up. I don’t know if she was shooting up for a fact she could be smoking or snorting heroin but generally people do shoot it. That would actually explain the blood.
To me one of the strangest things is the shoes that were left on the bridge as well as the fact that there was not that much water for her to actually drowned from my understanding but even if that is an inaccurate statement the shoes being left behind is a sign of a struggle to me. Furthermore they never found the clothes she was wearing. Did they find out if the outfit she was found in was actually hers? It never made sense to me that she would change clothes. Do you know if it happened to be raining that night? The night that her car ran out of gas?
Ted – just look in the archives of the Chillicothe Gazette back in May 2014 (beginning of the month around the 2nd or 3rd) for the articles about Charlotte Trego, Tameka Lynch, Bethany Copas and one other woman whose name I cannot remember. Bethany was found disoriented in a church parking lot about 4-5 days after her disappearance. The Chillicothe Police Department, under Roger Moore’s command, determined that because all of these missing women had a drug use history or arrest record that there was NO foul play. It wasn’t until CH 4 out of Columbus ran a story about Bethany and the others that the cops down here started to take things seriously and it was some kayak’ers who found Tameka in Paint Creek – not law enforcement. Roger Moore has been fired for other reasons, but he was putting out bad information about when someone missing could be entered into LE data bases. Even if Tameka died from an overdose, someone made her find her way to Paint Creek when it was high and very dangerous. LE took Shasta’s disappearance a little more seriously but Charlotte is still missing as well as the Lemmons woman. Shouldn’t law enforcement be more concerned with ruling out foul play rather than deciding to eventually rule it in…if people go missing and the family members are telling you this isn’t how the missing act, LE should hop right on the situation and take it seriously and not wait until someone ends up dead in the creek or river to say “oh, gee, i guess there was foul play after all.” Someone with a history of drug abuse/use should be just as valued as someone without….but that isn’t how things are done here in Ross County!
Super interesting. Let me look into some of these cases.
thank you the authorities are a joke , I don’t trust them they told us shastas case was closed after last nights episode on I D we find out her case is still open not a call a letter of nothing from ross county explaining why her case is still open and why wont they release her phone back to us? points to ponder on
This past year has been full of missing women and dead women.during shastas search there was a. Woman found dead i
I think this article is ridiculous. May as well be on topix! Mike isnt guilty of anything and for someone to write this throwing his name around making him a target is just straight bs! Who are you to get on this blog and post about what he has said or done on fb! Everything known so far is hear say because nobody truly knows what really happened that night!
You would say thay kara, considering you’ve been partying with him since she was killed by his nigger ass. I hope you rot in hell right along with him you disgusting bitch. I don’t even know you and I completely hate your guts. You have no right commenting on shit, the only thing you are worried about is saving his name. Not the justice of our friend.
Eat a dick bitch
Who cares how she died. Who cares who did it. It’s her own fault. She picked that lifestyle, she died by that lifestyle. One more worthless human to deal with if you ask me. I have no sympathy for her kind. I feel for her family because losing a loved one is hard, but it’s for the best.
This is maybe a bit much.
Why write something like that about someone especially considering she was carrying an innocent child! You should think about that before writing such inappropriate garbage that isnt gonna help with the case. Remember we are all human and subject to make mistakes including yourself or your family/friends you care about! Hopefully your never in this situation and you have to read a comment like you wrote! Plus I’m sure you would want closure as well.
I can understand how you might feel that way. Shasta did have a past history with drugs…that is no secret. But for the past couple of months before her death she had not been doing any. She had found out she was pregnant after that & she was happy about it. She had gotten engaged to Mike & she was very happy about that also. She was not just another worthless human being. She was my cousin…my Aunts granddaughter. ..she was a special person that deserves respect just like any other human being on this earth. I would hope that if this ever happens to your family you will show a little more compassion & choose your words more carefully before your speak them so heartlessly.
We care, we loved Shasta and always will. Everyone makes mistakes and goes through a rough time. She was young and I believe she had chosen to grow up. She was so excited to be a mommy! I was there when Shasta hit an all time emotional low, when her dad died. I seen the sweet little girl she was, go set on her grandma’s lap and just cry. Her grandma has been a good Christian lady for years. Maybe had her mom claimed her, (she called her, her niece on her Facebook ) or stayed here and help raise her you things might been different. None the less we love Shasta and want snswers.
That is just wrong if its true.. Why would a mother not claim/raise her own child.. And a daughter at that.. Not cool mom.. Just look at it this way.. She is with her daddy again.. I know one thing. I will not stop if i die trying to find the person who has uprooted all of our lives..
I wish you’d choke on your own words and someone murders your best friend…. I think it would be for the best.
I’ve been thinking serial killer. When Shasta was at the station did she purchase gas? I also feel that whoever is responsible for these murders feel the women aren’t worthy to live this person probably looks down on these ladies lifestyle. Confident nobody cares they’ll probably kill again
Did they find out for sure that Wanda is still alive?,
well guy I am so sorry for yu that you can have so much hate for a person you know nothing about, had you known Shasta you may not feel the way you do, yes she did drugs , yes she did other things that wasn’t quite right, but still the same addict or not she was a wonderful person , and did not deserve rather her hand or some one else to die like that, I hope you never have children, if that is your humanity, your children have no hope in hell in being good people, I don’t know why you think someone who does a illegal drug deserves any thing bad to happen to them that’s the same as saying the children who was molested by the catholic church deserved it, you are sir a waste of gods grace.
I didn’t know her personally, and I do know that she was not a worthless human! People should care who did this to her (If someone is responsible for this crime, which I believe someone knows something) also I am pretty sure her friends and family and people that care about her CARES who did this, and HOW she died! That comment that I just read above made me sick! Yes she had a past with drugs and other things.. How can you be so disrespectful and wrote such a horrible comment about somebody..
Why would the car be out of gas she had just left the gas station!
Michelle over dosed. O’s didn’t do that at all. This shit. Nah. I know where he was that night. Definitely not round Shasta. Why can’t you just let shit be. Nothing but a bunch of drama. God you people are unreal.
I know where he was at too and a girl at that party said that he was texting shasta to meet him at higby bridge that night. He was also facebook messaging a girl the night before shasta went missing saying that him and shasta were done and that he wanted to be with her. If you knew their relationship you would know his controlling ass wouldn’t let her step out of the house to round the corner without approving of what she was wearing. There’s no way she was out doing whatever without him knowing every step she took, he absolutely had something to do with it, if not he knows what happened to her.
Another thing… Didn’t a chillicothe police officer recently get accused and even lost his job over accusations of sexual assault.. Maybe this guy knows a little more about our friends/family than what we all know. The person(notice i did not say persons) , that is doing this absolutely knows how to get away with murder.. And the way the PD, SD is acting about it will make you wonder…im just saying.. Google officer stansberry…
I think the CPD gags at a gnat and swallows a camel! Officer Stansbury is definitely a pervert but I don’t know if that would make him a murderer. This murderer blends in with the drug scene, may be a dealer? He has a low opinion of these ladies. He feels they deserve to die
A drug dealer doesn’t need them dead..how world he get money.. A cop on the other hand would despise them..I’m not saying officer stansberry did this..I’m saying they need to look inside..
@stupid people…..The car did not belong to Mike & his brother. Shasta paid for the car but had to leave it in their name because she was still in the process of getting her license back. They live right down the street from me. I watched them drive the car in & I also watched the Sheriff come in with a rollback & take the car out. Mike didnt have the car that day. Just trying to keep the facts straight.
I just wish these murders would get looked into. Could it be someone in law enforcement or a drug dealer or whoever? If there is no investigation we may never know! Too many have died already. Shasta has a lot of loved ones who are not letting this go away like the other women.
I read more than once all of the past connections between Frankel, Owes and Himelrick. I will be very surprised to discover anyone other than Owes is our killer.
No mention of her inheritance from her father passing.Who was Shasta’s next of kin?Could that possibly be a factor?I,as many people think it was foul play.
“That Guy”,that was rude.I know were all entitled to our opinions.Trying to help get answers for someone we care for and the little one she carried.People can change,just because she made a few mistakes she shouldn’t be condemned.She was trying.
So I am just going to put it out here Mike is a real piece of work that man robbed me an a friend at knife point he took my friends cell phone an got like 300 all together she begged this strait out creep to let her have the memory card outta her phone because it had all the pics of her fiance who had recently passed away he laughed an cut her leg……wasn’t long after him an Shasta got together what I know of Shasta she had her issues but one thing for sure from the dope boy she lived with to the ones she would just shack up with she always managed to take shit from them just keeping it real on here
To whomever had something to say about my comments, Shasta texted me “I’m having a bebe” Dec 18th 2014. It’s on my phone, have texts saying how happy she was as well. I’m not gonna argue on this site because topix is enough bullshit, thank you again Ted for writing this, hope to get some kind of answer.
I think we all hope for that, Kendra. Thanks for being active over here.
Blood on the headrest would indicate she was injured in the car, whoever was in the car with her hurt her. She may have fled to get away from her attacker and he chased after her. The car left running, ran out of gas and the battery died. I fully understand why Mike Owes and Whitey would be suspects. Who had her phone and where was her money card? The news reported a a text to her grandmother and a call from Mike ..so Mike did know where she was
“The car left running, ran out of gas and the battery died”..Not how cars work. Battery does not die when it runs out of gas, Sounds like she ran out of gas and flattened battery in a futile effort of trying to start a car with no petrol..then ??? Blood found in car ( if grannie isn’t lying ti generate the case) is problematic. Coroner said no pre-mortem injuries, so where did it come from…a bloody nose perhaps?
Regarding Shasta: car out of gas & battery sounds like car was stolen probably with her in it. Did she share inheritence from late father with Michael in a bank account? Did he pay respects to her family? Attend her memorial services?
Also read blood was found on driver’s seat headrest…reported by her Grandma who rented house to her & Michael.
If a car runs out gas the dash lights headlights and radio would still be on you have to turn the key back to cut power to all of these things.people amaze me how they talk without knowing anything about the subject.