Missing
Shaylene Marie Farrell
Farrell, approximately 1994; Christopher Below
Date and time person was reported missing : 08/08/1994
Missing location (approx) :
Piqua, Ohio
Missing classification : Endangered Missing
Gender : Female
Ethnicity :
White
DOB : 06/19/1976 (45)
Age at the time of disappearance: 18 years old
Height / Weight : 5'3, 135 pounds
Description, clothing, jewerly and more : A boys' white t-shirt with the words "No Fear" in blue lettering on the front, blue Piqua High School shorts, black sandals. Carrying a blue sapphire and diamond heart-shaped keyring with approximately five keys.
Distinguishing characteristics, birthmarks, tattoos
: Caucasian female. Dark brown hair, hazel eyes. Farrell has pierced ears and she has a brown-colored mole under her lower lip. She has a birthmark on her left thigh above her knee and a scar on her right leg above her knee. Farrell smoked cigarettes, but drank only occasionally in 1994. Four of her teeth are missing and she has fillings in eleven other teeth. She may wear eyeglasses.
Information on the case from local sources, may or may not be correct : Farrell was last seen leaving her family's residence on Haverhill Drive in Piqua, Ohio at approximately 10:00 a.m. on August 8, 1994. She planned to run a quick errand to buy a bottle of Lipton Iced Tea at the nearby Pick-N-Save grocery store in the 1500 block of Covington Avenue, where she had held a part-time job for the past two weeks.
Farrell never returned home and has not been seen again. She was reported missing after she did not show up for her 7:00 p.m. shift at work. Her mother's silver 1981 Chevrolet Malibu, which she had been driving, was discovered abandoned in the parking lot of the Pick-N-Save on Route 36 in Piqua later in the day. There was no sign of her at the scene. She did not take any money, clothing, or identification when she disappeared.
Prior to her disappearance, Farrell's mother had caught her smoking marijuana and Farrell moved out of her parents' home and in with a friend as a result. She maintained very close contact with her family, however, and moved back in with them several weeks later.
Investigators initially believed Farrell simply left home voluntarily again when she disappeared in August 1994, but her mother and her best friend disagreed, and the police eventually decided she had probably met with foul play.
Investigators suspect Christopher J. Below was possibly involved in Farrell's case. A photograph of him is posted with this case summary. He is a suspect in several murders and disappearances of young women, including Mary Kushto, Kristina Porco and Heather Teague. Below pleaded guilty to attempted involuntary manslaughter in connection with the shooting of Kathern Fetzer, whose body was never found. He is currently incarcerated in an Ohio prison.
It should be emphasized that he has not been charged in connection with any case other than Fetzer's and only conjecture links him to Farrell's case.
Farrell was a student at Piqua High School in 1994; she disappeared shortly before the start of her senior year. Her case remains unsolved.
Other information and links : ncy
Piqua Police Department
937-778-2027
September 2021 updates and sources
Piqua Police Department
Don't Tread On Me
America's Most Wanted
14 WFIE
Interactive Missing Person Search Map
