The story of Matthew Sheppard, who was presumed drowned after going missing in the Little Red River near Wilburn February 17, 2008, will be featured during Primetime ABC tonight at 9. He resurfaced about six months later in South Dakota and was arrested. The story was heavily covered by The Sun-Times.
You can see a small segment of the Primetime news clip on their website.
Below are a few stories that ran in The Sun-Times about the event.
2/20/08- Recovery teams have scaled back their efforts to find Matthew Alan Sheppard, 42, of Searcy. He was reported Sunday (Feb 17, 2008) evening as disappearing in the waters of the Little Red River near the Cow Shoals access off River Bend Road. Water, land, and air searches have not been successful in finding Sheppard.
Cleburne County Sheriff Marty Moss reported Wednesday morning dive teams and search and rescue personnel from the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, Conway Fire Department, Cleburne County Search and Rescue, Cleburne County Sheriff’s Office, Heber Springs Fire Department, White County Sheriff’s Office, and rural fire departments in Cleburne County, as well as numerous citizens, volunteered their time to search for Sheppard.
“Teams have searched approximately two miles down stream from where he went into the water. Searches were conducted with divers, SONAR, by foot, and from the air. We will continue to monitor the Little Red River by boat, land, and air in hopes of recovering the body of Mr. Sheppard.”
As of press time Thursday, there was still no sign of Sheppard.
3/14/08- Matthew Sheppard was presumed drowned after his wife reported his Feb. 17 disappearance in the Little Red River while rescuing their dog from the frigid trout waters. Crews from across northcentral Arkansas searched the river and shoreline full-time from the 17th until the evening of the 19th.
Sheppard is still missing. As it turns out, so are his passport, a laptop computer and at least $40,000 reported as embezzled from the Searcy firm where he served as manager of Environmental, Health and Safety for Eaton Americas.
Sheriff Marty Moss said, “Since the report, no body has been found and there are no other investigations ongoing by our department. He is entered as a missing person.”
There is an open criminal investigation by the Searcy Police Department on Sheppard, 42. Before the search was scaled back, Eaton Human Resource Manager Phil McGrath filed a report with the Searcy Police Department, alleging Sheppard falsified expense records. “We are currently investigating a report made February 19 by his former employer. They claim he cheated the company out of approximately $40,000 over an 18-month span,” Lt. Tim Webb of the Searcy PD said Thursday morning.
While Cleburne County officials were searching for Sheppard the night he disappeared, they stumbled upon items that have thrown up red flags, according to Moss. “We were trying to find information about Sheppard for the drowning incident and found out some things that did not apply to what we were needing, but we began looking into the information immediately and shared it with other law enforcement agencies.”
First, Moss said when Sheppard was hired by Eaton he used a date of birth and a social security number believed not to be his. A criminal history on Sheppard has been uncovered, but Moss would not elaborate as to what that history is.
Law enforcement said they learned Sheppard’s life insurance policy increased January 1 and that his passport is missing. “We were told his passport was in his computer case and we were told an airline lost the laptop and the case. I am unsure if the case has ever been found.”
The laptop belongs to Eaton Hydraulics.
Anything besides looking for a drowning victim is speculation, Moss said. “There is no criminal investigation by our department at this time.” But, he added, “If we learn there is any type of wrongdoing, we will open a criminal case.”
His wife told Cleburne County law enforcement on the night of the disappearance that her husband fell in the river to grab the collar of their Labrador, went under the water, came up for air, went down again, and never surfaced. Sheppard reportedly saved the dog, but not himself.
An acquaintance of Sheppard’s said on the first night of the search that Sheppard had Coast Guard training and had been in similar water situations in the past and said, “if anyone can survive this, Matt can”.
A second acquaintance of Sheppard’s reported Thursday that he is a soft-spoken guy. “What is being speculated doesn’t sound like him,” said Kelvin Wagner. “He is a super nice guy. Our daughters went to school together. I would never suspect anything malicious from him. He is just a great guy.”
9/3/08- A man that reportedly fell into the Little Red River February 17 and disappeared, has been found alive and well in South Dakota. Friday, U.S. Marshals picked up Matthew Sheppard, 43.
The story with Sheppard began when his wife Monica reported he had fallen into the cold river while trying to rescue the family dog that had jumped in. Search and dive crews from across the county and state responded to the scene and searched several days for Sheppard. The only thing they found was his cap.
During the first day or so of the search, Cleburne County law enforcement quickly realized they might not be looking for a dead body at all, but a criminal on the run. “We learned he was under investigation by his employer in Searcy for reportedly fraudulently using his company credit card,” said Detective Alan Roberson with the Cleburne County Sheriff’s Department.
The card was used for approximately $40,000 in non-company related purchases. “He knew he was under investigation for the fraud and he knew he was about to get caught. We started putting pieces of the puzzle together. We learned Sheppard had an extensive criminal history and we started looking for a live person.”
Sheppard, who was using the alias John Howard in South Dakota, increased his life insurance in January to the maximum allowed. “In the event of an accidental death, his beneficiary was entitled to $1,400,000. The increased insurance coverage was an obvious red flag.”
A missing cell phone also helped officers learn Sheppard was indeed alive. “His cell phone was used to send text messages to his wife after his disappearance.”
The elaborate story fell apart for Sheppard, and came together for local law enforcement, last Tuesday. “An elementary school in White County was contacted by the Yankton, South Dakota School District requesting records on the Sheppard’s seven-year-old daughter. An anonymous call from someone in White County lead us to Sheppard’s whereabouts.
“With the tip we subpoenaed the school records of the children from White County and learned that Monica Sheppard was enrolling their children in the Yankton school.”
Roberson contacted the U.S. Marshal Service to see if they could help locate Sheppard and take him into custody. “They ran surveillance on the Sheppard’s Thursday and Friday and confirmed the individual they believed to be Matthew Sheppard was Matthew Sheppard.”
A witness said Friday the suspect had just been walking his dog. “With that information the marshals knew he was at the house. When they knocked on the door his wife told them there wasn’t a Matthew there. They went into the home anyway and found him trying to hide under a bed.”
Sheppard was taken into custody and will be extradited. “Several charges are pending,” said Cleburne County Sheriff Marty Moss. “We will be charging Matthew and his wife, but we are still in the process of figuring out exactly what those charges will be. A hold has been placed on Sheppard by our department and the Searcy Police Department. He will not be released.”
Moss said Sheppard was settling into his new life in South Dakota. “He was supposed to start a new job on Tuesday of this week as head of corporate security for a company there in South Dakota.”
Moss said a lot is still being learned about where the Sheppards were between February and now. “We are not sure at this time how long they were in South Dakota.”
The cap found by searchers is still in Moss’s possession. “I am really looking forward to returning to him his lost cap.”
10/29/08- Exactly two months after a presumed drowned man was arrested in South Dakota, his wife is taken into custody. Shortly before noon Wednesday, the United States Marshals Service took Monica Sheppard, 30, into custody in Urbandale, Iowa.
She was arrested on charges of filing a false police report, a class “D” felony, and a charge is pending for committing a fraudulent insurance act, also a Class “D” felony.
The charges stem from a February 2008 incident on the Little Red River in Cleburne County in which Monica reported to the sheriff’s department that her husband Matthew had fallen into the river and disappeared.
For several days following the report, extensive efforts were made to locate Matthew Sheppard, or his remains, by personnel and divers from the Cleburne, White, Faulkner, Pope, and Johnson County Sheriff’s Departments, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, the Conway Fire Department, numerous first responders from local fire departments, volunteers, and the Cleburne County Office of Emergency Services.
At the same time the search was being carried out, detectives from the Cleburne County Sheriff’s department were conducting a parallel investigation into the incident and had began to question the factual basis of the initial missing person report.
They learned that Matthew Sheppard had provided false information to his employer in Searcy on his application for employment, had concealed an extensive criminal history, was aware that the company was questioning charges made on a Corporate American Express Card issued to Sheppard, and in January, prior to the incident, he raised his company life insurance to the maximum amount allowable.
Shortly after an exhaustive search failed to find any sign of Matthew Sheppard, Monica Sheppard left the Searcy area.
In late August detectives from the Cleburne County Sheriff’s Department developed information that lead them to believe that Matthew and Monica had rejoined and were living together in another state. With the assistance of the United States Marshals Service, Matthew and Monica Sheppard were located living in Yankton, South Dakota where Matthew was taken into custody by the Marshals Service.
At the time Matthew Sheppard, 43, was taken into custody he and his wife Monica were living together, where Matthew was using the name Jon Howard.
After Matthew’s arrest August 29, Monica Sheppard left the Yankton area before charges could be filed against her. She was located earlier this week in Urbandale, Iowa, taken into custody by Deputy US Marshals, and is currently being held by local authorities in Iowa waiting extradition.
“The Cleburne County Sheriff’s Department appreciates the tireless efforts of all who assisted in the search for Matthew Sheppard, including the United States Marshals Service whose willingness to make resources available and to assist the sheriff’s department was instrumental in bringing Matthew and Monica Sheppard to justice,” said Cleburne County Sheriff Marty Moss.
The charge of committing a fraudulent insurance act was filed against Monica Sheppard in the Cleburne County Circuit Court by the Arkansas State Insurance Commission.
Matthew is currently being held at the White County Detention Center on local charges and has also been charged in Cleburne County with committing a fraudulent insurance act.
