St. Louis area police searching for Sheley

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By The St. Louis Post-Dispatch | Tuesday, July 01, 2008 |

Jill Estes (Contributed photo)

UPDATED: A man wanted by Whiteside County authorities could be in the St. Louis area and authorities are seeking the public’s help to find him.

Nicholas Sheley, 28, is a “person of interest” in the death of a 93-year-old man whose body was found Thursday in the trunk of Sheley’s car in Sterling, Ill., and four people, one of whom was a child, found Monday in a Rock Falls, Ill., residence.

According to St. Louis police, Sheley was said to have been at Busch Stadium last night and had threatened to kill more people. He was last seen walking in the Cherokee area of south St. Louis on Monday.

As of this morning, police had not yet arrested him. An alert put out by homicide investigators said he is wanted as a suspect in multiple homicides. He is said to be armed with a 9 mm handgun.

Sheley is described as a white man standing 5-feet11-inches tall and weighing 165 pounds, with blonde hair and green eyes. Anyone who has information on his whereabouts is urged to contact Crimestoppers at 1-866-371-TIPS(1-866-371-8477).

He is considered armed and dangerous.

Police see similarities in the murder of the elderly man and the murders of an Arkansas couple whose bodies were found behind a trash bin in Festus on Monday.

Jill Estes and her husband Tom Estes of Sherwood, Ark., were in town to attend a graduation. They were staying at the Comfort Inn Friday along Veteran’s Boulevard just west of Interstate 55. They were found behind a Phillip’s 66 gas station at 1245 American Legion Drive, more than a mile from the hotel.

About members of the Major Case Squad are investigating. They hope surveillance footage from cameras at the gas station and near the hotel render some clues. Police also are looking for a white pickup that may have been connected.

“These were good people,” said Festus Police Chief Tim Lewis Monday. “They had no criminal history, and it looks like it was a random act.“

Anyone with information is asked to contact Festus police at 636-937-3646.

Sheley may be connected to 2 bodies found in Missouri

By St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Times staff

EARLIER STORY: FESTUS, Mo. — Staffers at an Arkansas school were in shock after Festus police contacted them Monday to say a teacher and her husband were missing and may have been murdered, a former staffer there said.

Nicholas T. Sheley, 28, of Sterling, Ill., is considered a “person of interest” in the case. Sheley remains at large and is considered armed and dangerous. The public is reminded to call authorities and to not approach Sheley.

Investigators say Sheley is wanted in connection with five homicides the Sterling/Rock Falls, Ill., area and one in Galesburg, Ill. Sheley was last believed to be in Collinsville, Ill., area late Monday night, police said.

The FBI and Whiteside County Crime Stoppers have offered a $25,000 reward for the arrest of Sheley.

A tip hot line phone number has been established at (866) 219-8333.

Police in Festus confirmed that two people were found slain Monday but they have not identified them.

Kristine Rodgers, who once worked with Jill Estes at Tolleson Elementary School in Jacksonville, Ark., said police told school officials that Ms. Jill, as she was known to her special-needs students, and her husband, Tom, checked into the Comfort Inn Friday along Veteran’s Boulevard just west of Interstate 55.

Police who contacted the school said the couple had last been seen alive leaving a graduation party in Florissant around 10:30 p.m. Sunday.

At a news conference in Festus, police said that a hotel guest found a couple’s two small dogs around midnight roaming the parking lot and covered in blood. When police arrived, they found the couple’s dogs unharmed, their 2007 Corvette untouched, two pairs of eyeglasses, a pair of earrings and a lot of blood.

Around 10:30 a.m. Monday, a woman walking her dog behind the Chips’ Cwic Phillip’s 66 gas station at 1245 American Legion Drive saw a man’s protruding bloody foot near a trash bin. The station is a mile and a half from the hotel.

The gas station’s owner, Chip Compton, then found two bodies matching the description of the missing couple. “They were covered in blood from head to toe,” Compton said.

Blood also was found along the driveway leading to the trash bin, he said.

Rodgers said the couple’s two children left Arkansas for St. Louis on Monday to speak with police. The Esteses lived in Sherwood, Ark., Rodgers said.

Jill Estes, 52, taught at the Jacksonville school for about seven years and Tom Estes worked for a railroad company, Rodgers said. “They were just sweet, hard-working people counting down their years until retirement,” she said.

Meanwhile, about 25 to 30 members of the Major Case Squad are investigating and hoping surveillance footage from cameras at the gas station and near the hotel render some clues. Police also are looking for a white pickup that may have been connected.

“These were good people,” said Festus Police Chief Tim Lewis Monday. “They had no criminal history, and it looks like it was a random act.“

Anyone with information is asked to contact Festus police at 636-937-3646.