Their Children Came Home To Find Them Missing: A Safe In Their Bedroom Was Open, And Papers Were Scattered Everywhere

On December 15, 1995, John and Shelly Markley disappeared from their home. They left most of their belongings behind. The safe in their bedroom was open, and papers were scattered everywhere.

Days later, their truck was found in a parking lot 10 miles away and covered in mud. However, there was no trace of the missing couple.

John and Shelly got married on November 30, 1979. They had five children together: Ruthie, Stacey, Bonnie, Crystal, and Johnny. At the time of their disappearance, their children were between the ages of eight and 15. The family lived in Bristolville, Ohio. John was a truck driver, and Shelly was a stay-at-home mom.

On December 15, 1995, the Markley family had an uneventful breakfast together. Then, the kids left for school. When they arrived home after school, they were surprised to find the front door unlocked.

The red and silver 1990 Chevrolet pickup truck was gone from the driveway. They also smelled a burnt odor from coffee left scalding in the pot.

This was very out of the ordinary because Shelly was usually there when the kids got home from school. If she wasn't there, she always left a note telling them where she was going and when she would be back. That day, there was no such note.

They noticed several other strange details. The watch that John rarely took off was sitting on a shelf above the stove. Shelly hadn't taken her cigarettes or lighter with her, even though she typically smoked a pack of cigarettes a day.

When the kids went upstairs, they found the gun safe and another safe with important documents wide open. In the garage, the two tarps that John used to cover his 1978 Corvette were missing. The children contacted an aunt and uncle, who came to pick them up.

Two days before the couple's disappearance, John's twin sister Bonnie passed away due to breast cancer. John was very close to his sister.

Facebook - pictured above are John and Shelly Markley

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He even helped raise $15,000 so that Bonnie could undergo experimental medical treatments in Mexico. When she died, John was upset and angry.

John and Shelly didn't show up for Bonnie's funeral, so the family knew something was terribly wrong. They called the police that day.

Authorities investigated the Markley house and found no signs of forced entry or foul play. They determined that the couple had run away due to overwhelming stress.

The family did not believe this was the case. No matter how stressed they were, they wouldn't leave their kids unattended. Around 100 locals helped search the area near the Markley house, but nothing turned up.

A few days later, their truck was found in the parking lot of a hardware store 10 miles away from home. It was locked and covered in mud, which was odd because John was meticulous about keeping his truck clean. Their cell phone was in the vehicle, and the two tarps were in the truck bed.

Police suspected foul play. They conducted an air search, and divers searched the surrounding bodies of water. The search was unsuccessful.

The last sighting of the Markleys was on December 15 at 10:36 a.m. at a Bank One in Bloomfield, Ohio. The couple cashed a check for $1,000 made out to Shelly.

The teller reported that John had been driving his truck, and Shelly was sitting between her husband and another man. The man was never identified.

Soon after the Markleys disappeared, Steven Durst, one of John's former employees, contacted the family and claimed to be holding the couple hostage. He demanded a $10,000 ransom in exchange for their safe return.

The family reported him to the police. They arrested him and took him in for questioning. During his polygraph, most of his answers were marked as "deceptive," so the police concluded that he was not involved in the Markleys' disappearance.

But a year later, authorities believed that Steven Durst knew what happened to them.

He was sentenced to four to 10 years in prison for his ransom scheme and has denied any involvement in the Markleys' disappearance.

Anyone with information regarding John and Shelly's case is urged to contact the Trumbull County Sheriff's Office at 330-675-2540.