Human remains identified as Shealeah Staley, 30, of Ashland, reported missing on Sept. 1

Lou Whitmire, Mansfield News Journal
·2 min read

The human remains found Sunday in North Lake Park have been identified as Shealeah Lachelle Staley, 30, of Ashland, according to Richland County Coroner's Investigator Bob Ball.

Tuesday, her mother Angela Kehl, said although her daughter was missing for more than two months, she never believed Shealeah might be dead but was looking for her even if she didn't want to come home, to make her she was OK.

Mansfield police reported on Sunday that they were investigating the remains of an unidentified human body that was found in woods in the vicinity of North Lake Park off the Richland B&O Trail.

Richland County Coroner's Investigator Bob Ball said the remains found in the woods off North Lake Park Sunday are that of Shealeah Staley, 30, of Ashland. Her mother Angela Kehl, at left, provided this photo of Shealeah and herself Tuesday.
Richland County Coroner's Investigator Bob Ball said the remains found in the woods off North Lake Park Sunday are that of Shealeah Staley, 30, of Ashland. Her mother Angela Kehl, at left, provided this photo of Shealeah and herself Tuesday.

The Richland County Coroner's Office contacted a forensic anthropologist team from Mercyhurst University in Pennsylvania whose team was on the scene Monday morning to assist with identification.

Mother thought Shealeah was with her friends

Shealeah had been living with her mother in Ashland and took her mother's car, a white Nissan Altima, so her mother reported her missing on Sept. 1, according to the missing person report obtained by the News Journal through a public records request from the Ashland Police Department.

Kehl, who lives on East Ninth Street in Ashland, said Tuesday that she thought her daughter was with her Mansfield friends.

"I thought she was hanging out with friends," her mother said. "We were still looking for her. She was very secretive about her friends in Mansfield. We didn't have last names. We knew her Ashland friends.

"I just want answers and I want closure. I want to know if she killed herself or was murdered," Kehl said.

Her mother said she had last seen Shealeah on Aug. 31 around 11 a.m. She said her daughter was headed to the Social Security Office in Mansfield but never returned.

Mother prayed that the body was not Shealeah's

When she heard the news about a body being found in a Mansfield park, Kehl said she prayed for the family of whoever's loved one's remains had been found and also prayed it would not be Shealeah.

Members of Mercyhurst University's forensic anthropology team are assisting the Richland County Coroner's Office with identification of human remains found in woods in the vicinity of North Lake Park on Sunday. Mansfield police were also on the scene Monday.
Members of Mercyhurst University's forensic anthropology team are assisting the Richland County Coroner's Office with identification of human remains found in woods in the vicinity of North Lake Park on Sunday. Mansfield police were also on the scene Monday.

Shealeah was single and had no children, her mother said.

Kehl said she's lost two children now, saying her son Roger Lee died at age 20 in a car crash in 2003 in Ashland.

Authorities said the human remains were found about a half mile from the entrance to the Richland County B&O Trail at the park off West Fourth Street.

lwhitmir@gannett.com

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This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Mercyhurst forensic anthropologist team helped identify human remains