#video #People Magazine Investigates - Season 9 - Episode 09: The Secrets of the 12 Tribes Cult
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00:00Now on, do you need police fire or the ambulance service?
00:03Police.
00:04There was a domestic violence with you.
00:07Their relationship was volatile, even toxic.
00:11Picard said, roses are red, violets are blue.
00:15My wife's cheating on me, your husband too.
00:18It seems like he wants revenge,
00:19and she tells friends that he's been stalking her.
00:23I saw him read the message, and I was like,
00:25is everything okay, dude?
00:27And he goes, no.
00:29He told me that something bad had happened on the property.
00:33Don't be.
00:34Don't be.
00:36Investigators are searching areas where cadaver dogs
00:38have indicated there might be human remains here.
00:41Everyone is uneasy about what they might find there.
00:44There were some sort of foreign objects buried under the dirt.
00:48I thought, we've got something going on here.
01:20This was one of the most mysterious cases we've covered recently here at People.
01:25Childhood sweethearts whose love went south.
01:27And when things got violent,
01:29even the cops weren't sure who was telling the truth.
01:37Tanya Winchester says she watched as Lake County detectives
01:41made a discovery while digging in her neighbor's backyard.
01:44I did see that law enforcement kind of circled around the site
01:48and took off their hats, and it looked like they had said a prayer.
02:04Michael and Lori Shaver seem to be the epitome of the fairytale couple
02:08and have been inseparable pretty much their entire lives.
02:12They were both born in the same small town of Lawrence in upstate New York
02:16and grew up across the street from one another.
02:20Lori was the youngest of five,
02:22and one of her brothers was special needs.
02:25She stuck up for her brother
02:27and took care of him at school
02:29to keep people from bullying him.
02:32It was a relatively close family structure,
02:35but the father was working full-time.
02:38I think it was financially a struggle for the family.
02:42Mike Shaver's parents divorce when he's young.
02:45He and his two siblings live with their mom full-time.
02:48Mike was close with his family.
02:50He was a hard worker
02:52and was a little bit of a clown.
02:55Mike, he was an amazing person.
02:58He was always smiling,
03:00and you never really saw a frown on his face.
03:04Mike and Lori started dating in eighth grade,
03:06so they were middle school sweethearts.
03:08A high school friend,
03:10she said that Mike was Lori's little pet.
03:13He loved Lori unconditionally,
03:16would do anything for her,
03:18move heaven and earth.
03:20Michael has always been obsessed with aviation.
03:23He even dropped out of high school
03:25and went to flight school instead
03:26before working at a regional airline.
03:29The people that we spoke with say
03:31Lori was a sweet person
03:32who was easy to talk to
03:33and liked to have a good time.
03:37Lori was working as a claims adjuster
03:40for an insurance company.
03:41It was convenient for her to be at home,
03:44and they wanted to get married
03:46and start building a family.
03:49Lori and Michael married in 2004
03:51when they were in their early 20s
03:53and soon welcomed their daughter Isabel
03:54and son Aiden into their family.
03:57Lori as a mom was kind of like a mother hen.
04:01She really felt the need to protect the children.
04:04Those kids were the center of Lori's life.
04:08Michael Shaver was very family-oriented.
04:11You know, every time he talked about his kids,
04:12you would see a glow in him.
04:15Michael and Lori wanted more space
04:16for their growing family,
04:18so they moved to Florida
04:19where they could afford a large plot of land.
04:25By 2014, they're fixing up
04:27their five-acre dream property
04:29in the town of Claremont,
04:30a rural suburb 25 miles to the west of Orlando.
04:36It was kind of like a mom-and-pop farm.
04:39They had some pigs and chickens and some ducks.
04:44Mike is a regional airline pilot,
04:46but that requires him to be away from home
04:48for long periods of time.
04:50That starts to wear down on Lori and the kids,
04:53and it impacts their marriage.
04:55Sometimes that would lead to some frustration
04:57between Mike and Lori,
04:59so he quit that job for his family
05:01and started working at Disney.
05:03He originally started out as a mechanic
05:05working on Spaceship Earth at Epcot.
05:08Mike absolutely loved it.
05:10He loved being able to bring his kids to the park
05:12and them knowing that their dad
05:14was a part of making magic
05:17for Walt Disney World.
05:21With Mike working at Disney,
05:23everyone is seemingly happy.
05:26But all of this would soon change.
05:33Now, do you need police, fire,
05:35or the ambulance service?
05:36Please.
05:38What's going on?
05:39Oh, they went to domestic violence
05:40to steal my hands, please.
05:44Lori Shaver tells the dispatcher
05:46that they were doing a home improvement project,
05:48and they started getting into an argument,
05:51and it got heated.
06:12She's in a Target parking lot at that point,
06:15very upset.
06:17EMS checks Lori out,
06:18and deputies do see some bruises on her arms
06:21and some lacerations on her hand,
06:22which corroborate her story.
06:25While they're doing that,
06:26the deputies respond to the home
06:28to make contact with Mike.
06:30He gives his side of the story,
06:32which is similar, but kind of opposite.
06:35He said Lori threw a vase against the wall.
06:39If she says I grabbed her arms,
06:40I probably did to calm her down.
06:43Mike says it didn't work,
06:45and things escalated fast.
06:47Lori went into their bedroom
06:49and got her pistol,
06:51pointed it at her head,
06:52and said that she was going to kill herself.
06:55According to Mike,
06:56he wrestled that gun away from her,
06:58unloaded it,
06:59and then she got another gun
07:01and hit him in the head.
07:02With two very different stories,
07:05the police don't know who to believe,
07:06so they tell Mike and Lori
07:08that they'll have to arrest them both.
07:10But with both of them in jail,
07:12there would be no one to watch the kids.
07:14The deputies would have had to have called
07:15for the Department of Children and Families.
07:18Mike didn't want the kids
07:20to be without their mother,
07:20so he raised his hand and said,
07:23it was me, I did it.
07:27So Mike Shaver ends up getting arrested
07:29for domestic battery.
07:32Mike, he wasn't proud of it.
07:34He considered that as, like,
07:36a dark mark on his life.
07:39Mike is released on bail,
07:41but just how and why
07:43did these childhood sweethearts
07:45get to a place where Lori is calling 911
07:47for domestic violence
07:49and Mike is being arrested?
07:55According to Michael's friends,
07:56it started a year earlier
07:58when Mike discovered that Lori
07:59was having an affair with her boss.
08:03Mike told Lori,
08:04I forgive you for what happened.
08:06I just want my family back.
08:08But later that year,
08:10it happens again
08:11with another man
08:12who catches Lori's eye.
08:15Lori meets a guy named James Ballou.
08:19Pretty quickly,
08:20James starts coming over to the house
08:22while Mike is working at Disney,
08:24which develops into an affair.
08:28Mike works the overnight shift
08:29at Disney World.
08:30This allows Lori plenty of time
08:32to indulge in her affair with James.
08:34But that changes
08:36when James' wife discovers
08:37what her husband has been up to.
08:41Mike Shaver got a message
08:42from James Ballou's wife one day
08:45exposing the affair
08:46between Lori and Lister Ballou.
08:51James' wife even showed
08:53Mike Shaver pictures
08:55of Mr. Ballou and Lori together.
08:58That was an eye-opening experience
09:00for Mike.
09:02The relationship is really starting
09:04to head towards a disaster.
09:08And shortly after that,
09:10Lori had mentioned to a friend
09:12that she thinks Mike would kill her.
09:19Investigators are searching areas
09:21where cadaver dogs had indicated
09:22there might be human remains here
09:24on this acreage
09:25where the Shaver shared.
09:36In March of 2018,
09:38a team of deputies
09:39and crime scene investigators
09:41from the Lake County Sheriff's Office
09:43swarm a five-acre property
09:45in the rural outskirts
09:46of Claremont, Florida.
09:49This morning is hereby authorized
09:50to search for a clandestine grave
09:52by utilizing a specially trained
09:53cadaver dog,
09:55ground-penetrating radar,
09:57and excavation of the premises.
10:06The dogs hit on a pile of dirt
10:08at the rear of the property.
10:09In a checker.
10:10It's not everywhere the dog
10:11ended up getting on anything.
10:13We brought the ground-penetrating radar in
10:15and learned that there were foreign objects
10:18buried under the dirt there.
10:21I thought we've got something going on here.
10:25We need another car.
10:35I had heard that Lori was seeing somebody.
10:39So I asked Mike,
10:40is everything okay at home?
10:41And he was like,
10:42no, not really.
10:43I found out some news.
10:45Mike had found out that Lori
10:47has had two affairs
10:48in the past year and a half.
10:50So there's animosity between them.
10:54The affair sets Mike off
10:55and he confronts Lori with Mount James,
10:59leading to the altercation on September 4th
11:02and his arrest for the battery.
11:07After Mike's arrested,
11:09he gets out on bail,
11:10but he's not allowed to go back home
11:11because of a court order.
11:13So in Florida,
11:15when somebody's arrested for domestic violence,
11:17whoever is charged with something has to leave.
11:21He's got limited options for places to stay,
11:23but Mike is a member of an air racing club
11:26called Precious Metal.
11:27So he ends up staying in an airplane hangar
11:30associated with his racing club.
11:32Lori still lives at home with the kids.
11:41During the months that Michael
11:43is not allowed to live with his family,
11:45he attempts to mend his relationship with Lori.
11:47But at the same time,
11:48he meets a woman named Kendall
11:50who also works at Walt Disney World.
11:54In November 2014,
11:56Mike ends up asking out Kendall.
11:58He tells Kendall that he is married
12:00but separated,
12:01so she is aware of that.
12:03And they begin dating.
12:06Eventually, Lori finds out about the relationship
12:08and even though she's having her own affair,
12:11she's livid that Mike would cheat on her
12:12and demands that they break up.
12:15When Lori found out,
12:17she told Mike
12:18that he wasn't going to be able to see the kids anymore
12:20if he continued to date other women.
12:23Lori found Kendall on Facebook
12:25and started messaging her,
12:27calling her a homewrecker.
12:28And in spring of 2015,
12:31Lori called HR at Disney
12:33and filed a complaint
12:34against Kendall.
12:36And at this point,
12:38Kendall kind of backed away from Mike
12:39and said,
12:40I can't deal with this.
12:45Towards the end of the spring in 2015,
12:47the charges against Mike
12:49for domestic battery were dropped.
12:52It's not uncommon.
12:53There's pretrial intervention,
12:55counseling that can be mandated.
12:57When the charges are dropped,
12:59Mike can move back into the house,
13:01which he does.
13:02Mike and Lori thought
13:04it was probably better for the kids
13:05to have both parents back in the house.
13:09But Mike and Lori's relationship
13:11hasn't really changed or improved.
13:13Some days they seem to get along great
13:15and other days
13:16they're back to arguing.
13:18Mike tried not to talk about Lori
13:21as much as possible.
13:22And there were days
13:22where I could see
13:23that he had gotten into a fight with her
13:25because his demeanor would change.
13:28It almost looked like he was breaking down.
13:31I think Mike had thought about
13:32getting divorced several times,
13:36but he was more afraid
13:37that he was going to lose his kids
13:39in the divorce.
13:41I did hope, you know,
13:42nothing happens between the two of them.
13:53We spent several hours
13:55digging in that location
13:56that the dogs hit on.
14:00We're sifting,
14:01using sifters in the dirt
14:02and shovels and trowels
14:03and trying not to disturb anything.
14:06Can you hold a rule if it adapts you?
14:07Yeah.
14:08Our dig area got bigger.
14:11That's as deep as it's going to go.
14:14The bigger it got,
14:15we quickly realized
14:17that we needed to call in
14:18some heavy machinery
14:19to help us dig.
14:24With each foot that we dig down,
14:26the team is expecting to find
14:28a bone, article of clothing,
14:30some type of human remains.
14:33While we're digging in this area
14:35in the back of the property,
14:39we come across 38-caliber bullets.
14:42Sound of the black dial.
14:53After Mike moves back home,
14:55although things aren't easy
14:57between Mike and Lori,
14:58for the next six months,
14:59the Shavers try to get along
15:01for the sake of seven-year-old Isabel
15:03and five-year-old Aiden.
15:04And on November 7th,
15:06they take the kids
15:07to a local tractor show
15:08with Mike's co-worker,
15:09Frank Merritt,
15:10and his family.
15:12According to Frank Merritt
15:13and his wife,
15:15there was definitely
15:16some tension between
15:17Mike and Lori that day.
15:19At the show,
15:20the Merritts got separated
15:22from the Shavers,
15:23and then Mike texted them
15:24and said,
15:25hey, the kids aren't feeling well
15:26and have to leave early.
15:40When we came back to work
15:41from our weekend
15:41and Frank and I
15:42were talking about the show,
15:43we noticed Mike was not there.
15:47Our boss, John,
15:48had walked up to Frank
15:49and goes,
15:50hey, have you happened
15:51to hear from Mike?
15:52And Frank goes,
15:53no, not since the other day.
15:55Why?
15:55He goes, well,
15:56Mike didn't call in.
16:00And I looked at Frank
16:01and looked at John
16:02and we're like,
16:03that's not normal.
16:05So John was like,
16:07you know,
16:07I'm going to call him.
16:10Mike's boss at Disney
16:11tried to get a hold of him,
16:13didn't get any answer.
16:17Mike isn't at work
16:18the next day either,
16:19and now his co-workers
16:20are really getting worried.
16:21And once again,
16:23they text and call him.
16:26It was Frank
16:28that got a text message
16:30from Mike.
16:32And I was like,
16:33is everything okay, dude?
16:36And he goes, no.
16:41Investigators have been
16:42looking for evidence
16:43and now they believe
16:44they did find something
16:45just moments ago.
16:57on Wednesday,
16:59Frank got a text message
17:01from Mike saying,
17:03I'm going through
17:03some stuff right now.
17:05I quit.
17:06Keep my tools.
17:07Just leave me alone.
17:10And I was like,
17:12that's not like Mike at all.
17:17It's odd,
17:18but Frank said
17:19that he was just going
17:20to back off
17:20and give him his space
17:22so that he could
17:23work things out
17:23and he would come back
17:24whenever he was ready to.
17:29And then on Thursday,
17:30which is the 12th,
17:31his boss got a text
17:33that said,
17:34hey, I'm in Georgia.
17:35Just fire me
17:36or I'll quit.
17:36I'm not coming back
17:37anytime soon.
17:45Frank feels like
17:46this doesn't sound
17:47like the Mike
17:47that he knows.
17:48He decides to go over
17:50to the Shaver house
17:50and see what's going
17:51on for himself.
17:54Frank drives
17:55to the Shaver house
17:56and goes into the door.
18:01Lori answers.
18:03Frank asks,
18:04where's Mike?
18:05Lori told Frank
18:07that they had gotten
18:08to a fight
18:08and Mike left
18:09with a friend
18:10and she thought
18:12that he went to Georgia
18:13where his mom is.
18:15Frank and I
18:16were very, very worried
18:17that something
18:18was not right.
18:20That was not like Mike.
18:27Over the next few weeks,
18:29friends, coworkers,
18:30family are texting
18:31and calling
18:32and messaging Mike.
18:37nobody's ever able
18:38to get him
18:38on the phone
18:39but occasionally
18:40he will respond
18:41to text messages
18:42which are usually short,
18:45abruptly end,
18:46saying things like,
18:47leave me alone,
18:48I don't have a family anymore.
18:50I tried messaging Mike
18:52a few times
18:52on Facebook.
18:53We're always here, dude,
18:55whenever you need us.
18:56I never got a response
18:57but I know it was read
18:59because if anybody
19:00knows social media,
19:01you can see when
19:02somebody's picture
19:02drops down below
19:03and you know it's read.
19:05According to text messages,
19:07it seemed like Mike
19:08was done.
19:08Had just given up
19:09on his marriage,
19:10given up on his family
19:11and who knew where.
19:20As the holidays pass,
19:22Lori accepts
19:23that Mike is gone
19:24and keeps living her life.
19:26And at the end of 2015,
19:28she meets fellow parent,
19:29Jay Townsend,
19:30in the pickup line
19:31at her children's school
19:32and they begin to date.
19:34There's just one problem
19:36that Jay is still married.
19:38Jay did tell Lori
19:39that he and his wife
19:41were separated
19:41but that wasn't true.
19:44So the relationship
19:45between Jay and Lori
19:47abruptly ends
19:48when Jay's wife
19:49discovers the affair.
19:54within a year,
19:56there's still no sign
19:57of Mike Shaver.
19:59But Lori meets
19:59another man
20:00named Travis
20:01Fillmore.
20:02Travis was a youth
20:03coordinator
20:04at his church
20:05he attends.
20:06Him and Lori
20:07hit it off
20:07pretty quickly
20:08and within a few months,
20:09Travis had moved in
20:10to Lori's house.
20:12Lori and Travis
20:13decide to get married,
20:14but she's still
20:15legally married to Mike.
20:17Although the family
20:18has texted with him
20:19over the last year,
20:20no one has actually
20:21seen or spoken with him.
20:23So Lori and Travis
20:24decide to hold
20:25a commitment ceremony
20:26in their backyard.
20:28The Shaver children
20:30think that their dad,
20:31Mike,
20:31has left
20:32and isn't contacting them.
20:34Travis has become
20:35the father figure
20:35in their home.
20:37Lori and Travis
20:38work to make
20:39their house their home.
20:40They constructed
20:41a fire pit
20:42and put their initials
20:43in the fire pit
20:44along with a heart.
20:47Then,
20:48out of nowhere,
20:50Jay Townsend's wife
20:51reaches out to Lori
20:52about a delivery
20:53she received.
20:56In April 2016,
20:58Jay's wife receives
20:59a flower delivery
21:00at work.
21:02But they're not
21:03from Jay.
21:04The card has
21:05a little cryptic
21:07message on it.
21:09The card said,
21:10Roses are red,
21:12violets are blue.
21:13My wife's cheating
21:15on me,
21:16your husband too.
21:18And the end
21:20of the note reads,
21:21Check your Facebook.
21:22We need to talk.
21:23Mike.
21:26The affair with Jay
21:27has been over
21:28for months,
21:29so Jay's wife
21:30finds it a little odd.
21:33Mike tells her
21:34that he has
21:35installed a spy app
21:36on Lori,
21:37his wife's phone,
21:38due to his suspicions
21:39of the affair.
21:40And that he has
21:41captured several
21:42text messages
21:43and photographs
21:44between Lori and Jay.
21:46It seems like Mike
21:47wants revenge
21:48for Lori's affairs,
21:49and she tells friends
21:51that he's been
21:51stalking her.
21:56Lori says that
21:58Mike keeps popping up.
21:59She'll see him
22:00driving beside her.
22:09Lori felt the need
22:11to protect the children
22:13and protect them
22:14from Michael.
22:22But after all this time,
22:24no one has seen Mike
22:25in person,
22:25except for Lori.
22:29two and a half years
22:30after Mike
22:31was last seen,
22:32one of Mike's
22:33close childhood friends
22:34ends up calling
22:35the sheriff's office
22:36to find out
22:37what's going on.
22:40The sheriff's office
22:41responds
22:41at the Shaver residence
22:42to investigate.
22:44Lori answers,
22:45says,
22:46no, Mike's not here.
22:47The deputy asks
22:47if he can walk around.
22:49She's very cordial
22:50and friendly,
22:51and she says,
22:52yes,
22:52you can do that.
22:59The deputies look
23:00around the property
23:01and all seems normal,
23:02but when they get
23:03to the fire pit,
23:04one of them notices
23:05something strange.
23:11The deputy then notices
23:13a darkened area,
23:15kind of like a depression
23:16in the concrete.
23:20The deputy asks her,
23:21have you ever buried
23:22any of your livestock here?
23:24She says, no.
23:26And he asks her,
23:27well,
23:27is your husband buried here?
23:31She says,
23:32that's ridiculous.
23:35At that point,
23:36her demeanor changes.
23:37She kicks him
23:38off her property.
23:39She doesn't want
23:39to talk about
23:40the fire pit at all.
23:43Knowing that no one's
23:44seen Mike
23:45in about two and a half years,
23:46except for Lori,
23:48the Lake County Sheriff's Office
23:49launches a missing persons
23:51investigation
23:51into Mike Shaver.
23:54So with the knowledge
23:55that he had been
23:56texting his family,
23:57I thought,
23:58surely this guy's
23:59alive somewhere.
24:00Maybe Lori was just
24:02offended by the line
24:03of questioning,
24:03and that's why
24:04she told the deputies
24:05to leave,
24:06and we just need
24:07to find him.
24:09In order to find Mike,
24:10detectives start looking
24:11into his digital footprint.
24:14You typically can't
24:15just fall off
24:15at the face
24:16of the earth.
24:17So my first step
24:18was to start seeing
24:19where is he spending money?
24:21Is he getting paid?
24:22Once we started
24:23getting his bank records
24:25back,
24:25we realized that
24:26most of the activity
24:28had stopped
24:29early November of 2015.
24:31That was odd.
24:35The tractor show
24:36was the beginning
24:37of November 2015.
24:39That was the last time
24:40that we know
24:41of anybody
24:42seeing Mike.
24:46We saw no record
24:47that he had worked
24:48anywhere,
24:49filed taxes,
24:50had a cell phone,
24:51used a credit card.
24:53His driver's license
24:54had expired,
24:55and he didn't renew it
24:56anywhere in the country.
24:57His FAA medical
24:58had expired,
24:59which means
24:59he wasn't a pilot
25:00anymore.
25:03What that told us
25:04was either Mike
25:05was completely living
25:06off the grid somewhere
25:08or that he was dead.
25:19To find out
25:20where Mike is,
25:22alive or dead,
25:23I wanted to talk
25:23to Lori,
25:24but Lori's already
25:26told us
25:26that she won't talk
25:27to us.
25:28So I went
25:29and talked to Travis.
25:30Lori is now
25:31husband,
25:31and Travis told me
25:33that Lori had told him
25:36something bad
25:37had happened
25:38on the property.
25:40Travis said,
25:41it's not that Mike
25:42is missing,
25:43it's that he's
25:44no longer walking
25:45the earth,
25:45and there's a body
25:47on the property.
25:50On March 9th
25:51of 2018,
25:52we executed
25:53a search warrant
25:54on the Shaver property.
26:00Using ground
26:01penetrating radar
26:02and the cadaver dogs,
26:05the team discovered
26:06the bullet casings,
26:08but they still
26:08haven't found
26:09signs of a body.
26:10We don't indicate
26:11anything that just
26:12indicates that we're
26:13doing this.
26:14We're going to check
26:15around the fire pit.
26:17We started thinking
26:18about this fire pit.
26:20We haven't even
26:21touched it.
26:22We're having
26:23another time.
26:24Yep,
26:24let's do the pit.
26:29As the sun
26:30started to go down,
26:31we started digging
26:32a little bit
26:32to get the heavy
26:34concrete out of the way.
26:38And probably about
26:39two,
26:40two and a half feet
26:41under the concrete pit.
26:44I hit something
26:45hard with the shovel.
26:51Immediately,
26:52I knew that
26:53we had found
26:54the remains
26:54of Mike Shaver.
27:01We do have
27:01breaking details here.
27:02We can tell you
27:03that they have found
27:04an arm bone
27:05in a fire pit
27:06behind the home here.
27:07That was Shaver's share.
27:11We return the next day
27:13to the Shaver house.
27:14We're able to find
27:15almost a complete
27:16skeleton
27:19wrapped in a tarp
27:21secured with
27:22ratchet scraps.
27:23The remains
27:24were dressed
27:25in socks,
27:27shorts,
27:27underwear,
27:28and a T-shirt.
27:29We saw
27:30what appeared
27:31to be
27:32a bullet hole
27:33in the skull.
27:42We don't have
27:43a confirmation yet
27:44that this is
27:45Michael Shaver,
27:46but what are the odds
27:47of another set
27:48of human remains
27:49being on
27:50Lori Shaver's property
27:51while Mike Shaver's missing?
27:55Obviously,
27:55we will be working
27:56with the medical
27:56examiner's office
27:57to get the identity
27:58confirmed.
28:01The Shaver family
28:03sees their son's
28:03house on TV,
28:04gets in their car,
28:05and drives down there.
28:07I spoke with
28:08the Shaver family.
28:10Mr. Shaver was
28:12quiet,
28:13reserved.
28:14Trying to process
28:15everything was,
28:16of course,
28:17difficult for him.
28:18We still had to
28:19positively identify
28:21the body,
28:21so we obtained
28:23DNA from Mike
28:24Shaver's dad
28:26and positively
28:27and quickly
28:28identified him
28:28through DNA.
28:31We were really
28:32hoping that we
28:33could find him
28:34and, you know,
28:35say, hey,
28:35you've got to be
28:35in touch with
28:36your family better,
28:37but it was
28:38Michael Shaver.
28:44News came on
28:45and it said,
28:46breaking news,
28:47body found
28:48in backyard,
28:50and all of a sudden
28:51I see Mike's picture
28:52up on the screen
28:53and I'm like,
28:55no.
28:58At that point,
28:59I just,
28:59I started to cry
29:03and I looked at my wife
29:04and I said,
29:05that bitch
29:05murdered him.
29:10Mike's remains
29:11were autopsied
29:12and it was discovered
29:13his cause of death
29:14was a single gunshot wound
29:15to the back
29:16of the head
29:16and his manner
29:17of death
29:17was homicide.
29:19The projectile
29:20used to kill Mike
29:21was still in his skull
29:22when we found the body
29:23and it was determined
29:24to be a 38-caliber
29:25class projectile.
29:28I called Lori
29:29and told her
29:30that we discovered
29:31human remains
29:32in her backyard.
29:58So after I told Lori
30:00that we found
30:00human skeletal remains
30:01in her backyard,
30:02she said thank you
30:04much like you would
30:05at a drive-thru
30:06or a grocery store
30:07when you check out.
30:09What was your reaction
30:11to that?
30:14I think that
30:15a normal person,
30:16their response
30:17is going to be
30:17a little bit more
30:20dramatic
30:20than the one
30:21that I received.
30:22I immediately thought
30:23to myself,
30:24this woman killed him.
30:28At this point,
30:29authorities believe
30:30all signs are pointing
30:31to Lori Shaver
30:32but they're looking
30:33for more circumstantial evidence
30:34to build their case
30:35against her.
30:37Although having
30:37your husband's body
30:39buried on your property
30:40does make Lori
30:41look guilty,
30:42that doesn't 100% guarantee
30:44that she's the person
30:45who killed him
30:46or who put him there.
30:47According to the autopsy,
30:49we knew that Mike
30:50had been deceased
30:51for quite a while
30:52but this didn't match up
30:54with Mike's social media
30:56and text at that time.
30:57So one of the things
30:59we did was look back
31:00at times when
31:01his family thought
31:02they were texting him
31:03or he was posting
31:04on Facebook
31:05and try to find out
31:06who was actually behind
31:07that social media presence.
31:09We noticed that
31:11after November of 2015
31:12when Mike would update
31:14his Facebook page
31:15or make a post,
31:17the IP address
31:18would come back
31:19to the same IP address
31:20that Lori sometimes
31:21within a few minutes
31:23would use to update
31:24her Facebook
31:24which told us
31:26that these posts
31:27they were being made
31:28at the same location.
31:32Knowing she's
31:32under suspicion
31:33for Mike's murder,
31:34Lori Shaver reaches out
31:35to her attorney,
31:37Jeffrey Wiggs.
31:39I wanted to ask you
31:40about the sheriff's
31:41office investigation.
31:42I have an attorney.
31:43You have an attorney?
31:44I have an attorney,
31:46Steve.
31:46Early on,
31:48Lori Shaver relayed to me
31:49that she had not
31:51shot Michael Shaver.
31:54We met with the prosecutor
31:56and I said,
31:57well, there's some other
31:58actors in this.
32:00Lori's attorney gave us
32:01two names.
32:02One was Jay Townsend
32:03and the other one
32:04was James Ballew,
32:06the man that Lori had
32:07affairs with in the past.
32:09And when we interviewed
32:11Jay and his wife,
32:12his wife told us
32:13the story about the flowers
32:15and the months' worth
32:16of text messages
32:17between her and Mike,
32:19who we now know
32:20was most likely deceased
32:21when that took place.
32:24I found that flowers
32:26had been purchased
32:27using Lori Shaver's
32:29bank account.
32:30So that was a clue
32:32that Lori is the person
32:34that sent the flowers
32:35and not Mike.
32:37That was a pretty big
32:39slip up from Lori.
32:43In September of 2020,
32:45the prosecutor believes
32:47that they have enough
32:48circumstantial evidence
32:49for an arrest.
32:51Breaking at noon,
32:52the wife of a man
32:53whose remains were found
32:54buried in a backyard
32:55has been arrested
32:56two years after the discovery.
32:57The Lake County Sheriff's Office
32:58just arrested Lori Shaver
33:00on a warrant
33:01of second-degree homicide.
33:03Lori, however,
33:04maintains her innocence.
33:05And while out on bail,
33:06she even posts a video
33:07to YouTube
33:08asking people to donate
33:10for her legal fees.
33:12I'm coming before you guys
33:14today just to let you know
33:16that we have
33:17our suspicions,
33:18but I don't know
33:19why I've been targeted,
33:21why I've been set up
33:22or charged
33:23with this heinous crime.
33:25I am not guilty.
33:28Lori told me
33:29Michael was really
33:31very controlling.
33:32He battered and abused her
33:34for years,
33:34and it was an atmosphere
33:36of a lot of violence.
33:39100% it broke my heart
33:40to have Mike painted
33:41in that light
33:42because, honestly,
33:43I don't think he had
33:44a bad bone in his body.
33:47Lori's out on bail
33:47for about four years,
33:49and it finally goes to trial
33:50in September 2024.
33:54As the trial begins,
33:56no one could have anticipated
33:57the surprise theory
33:58the defense puts forward
34:00of how Mike died.
34:01Lori and Mike's
34:0316-year-old daughter,
34:04Isabel,
34:05who would have been
34:05seven years old
34:06at the time of Mike's
34:07death is called
34:08to the stand.
34:10My name is
34:11Isabel Shaver.
34:12The story was
34:13that the seven-year-old
34:15heard Mike and Lori
34:17getting into an argument
34:19in the house.
34:20My mom and my father
34:21were fighting,
34:21and he pushed her
34:22onto the ground.
34:24He was saying
34:25that he was going
34:25to kill her at this time.
34:27I heard my mom
34:27screaming for help,
34:29so I went to my mom's room.
34:31I grabbed her gun,
34:36and I shot him.
34:47And I shot him.
34:48What happened
34:49after you shot him?
34:51Jeremy came,
34:52and he took the gun
34:53from me,
34:54and then he shot him again,
34:55and that's when
34:57he fell to the ground.
35:00Isabel is referring
35:01to Jay Townsend,
35:02whose full name
35:02is Jeremy Townsend.
35:04According to Isabel,
35:05Lori had met Jay
35:06a month before
35:07Mike disappeared.
35:09Seemingly out of nowhere,
35:11Jay appears to deal
35:13with the situation.
35:14Mike's still alive,
35:15so he grabs the gun
35:16from her
35:17and shoots him again.
35:19Tells Lori to take
35:20the kids to school.
35:21I'll take care of
35:22the body.
35:26But when they
35:26cross-examine her,
35:27you'll see that
35:28it doesn't make sense.
35:30You definitively said
35:31I shot him
35:31in the back of the head,
35:32correct?
35:33Correct.
35:33I don't know
35:34where the bullet went,
35:35but that's where
35:35I was aiming.
35:36That's where I'm
35:36pretty sure it hit.
35:37He was almost like
35:38seizing, correct?
35:39Yeah.
35:40So clearly you hit him.
35:41Yeah.
35:42But you're saying
35:43Mr. Townsend came over
35:44and took your mom's
35:46gun from you.
35:47The same one I had, yes.
35:48Oh.
35:48And shot him again.
35:50Yes.
35:50Where?
35:51In the head.
35:54There was just
35:54one problem.
35:56There was only one
35:57bullet hole
35:58in the back
35:59of a skull.
36:02It pissed a lot
36:03of us off
36:03that she would try
36:04to blame this
36:06on her daughter.
36:07What mother
36:08would let their daughter
36:10take the fall
36:10for their crime?
36:12This is totally
36:13different than
36:13what Isabel
36:14told investigators
36:15back in 2020.
36:16When Mike's remains
36:17were first found,
36:18she said that
36:19she has no idea
36:20what happened to her dad
36:21and that he just
36:21disappeared.
36:23I've never met
36:24Lori, but just from
36:26investigating this case,
36:27she seems to
36:28manipulate even though
36:30she loves the most
36:31to get what she wants.
36:33Lori wanted it to be
36:34essentially a self-defense
36:35claim, but she couldn't
36:37take responsibility
36:37and say,
36:38I shot Mike.
36:40Someone else
36:40had to shoot Mike.
36:41A seven-year-old
36:42can't dispose of
36:43a body.
36:44She couldn't take
36:45responsibility for that
36:46even.
36:47Her boyfriend
36:47had to swoop
36:48out of nowhere
36:49and dispose of
36:50the body.
36:51Later in the trial,
36:53Lori Shaver takes
36:54the stand in her
36:55own defense.
36:56The defense would
36:56call Lori Shaver.
36:59I had recommended
37:00that Lori not testify,
37:03but I think she wanted
37:04to get her word in.
37:07Lori's testimony lines
37:08up pretty closely
37:08with Isabel's.
37:10What's Isabel do?
37:13She had fired a gunshot.
37:16Okay.
37:17The next thing I recall
37:18is seeing Jay,
37:21Jeremy,
37:24and hearing the gunshot
37:25essentially at the
37:26same time.
37:28When Jeremy said,
37:29I'll take care of this,
37:31did you have any reason
37:33to believe that that
37:34body was on your
37:35property?
37:36No, never.
37:37How big was your
37:38property?
37:39Five acres.
37:40And out of all
37:42of that land,
37:43you just happened
37:45to choose the area
37:47where your dead
37:48husband's body was
37:49found to put that
37:49cement, slap that right?
37:51Because they did not
37:51know his body was there.
37:53It went there because
37:54that area was already
37:55dug out.
37:56Quite a coincidence.
37:58The trial lasts
38:00about a week,
38:00and the jury comes back
38:01with a decision
38:02in less than a day.
38:08The state of
38:09corner versus
38:09Lord Shaver.
38:11We, the jury,
38:13find as follows
38:13as count one
38:14of the charge.
38:15The defendant is
38:16guilty of second-degree
38:17murder.
38:21You will be remanded
38:22now to the Lake County
38:23Jail.
38:26Michael's family,
38:27you could tell there
38:27was just a sense
38:28of relief.
38:29It had been nine years
38:31for them from the time
38:31they last saw him.
38:33Your thoughts as soon
38:34as that verdict came
38:35down.
38:35Elation.
38:39Elation.
38:40We were very happy
38:41this was a long time
38:41coming.
38:42Finally, they got to see
38:44the end result and
38:45justice served.
38:46While this will not
38:47bring our beloved
38:47Michael back,
38:48our family can finally,
38:50after all these years,
38:52start to get closure.
38:54When I learned she was
38:56guilty of killing Mike,
38:57I dropped down to the
38:59ground on my knees
39:00and I cried.
39:01My friend finally
39:03got justice.
39:05But then, I was like,
39:06crap, what about the
39:07kids?
39:08When you see the
39:10Shaver kids hearing
39:11that their mom is
39:12guilty of second-degree
39:13murder and then going
39:14to prison for the rest
39:15of her life, I mean,
39:16there's no winners.
39:19After the trial,
39:22Michael Shaver's parents
39:23filed a petition to
39:25gain custody of those
39:26kids.
39:27But Lori's given
39:29Travis, her husband,
39:30power of attorney to
39:31take care of the
39:32children.
39:34I do feel this was
39:35an abusive relationship
39:36with Lori being the
39:38abuser.
39:39I think that what
39:40prevented him from
39:41coming forward was he
39:43wanted to keep his
39:44family together and he
39:45wanted to be a father
39:46to his kids.
39:49Ultimately, that abuse
39:50led to the extreme and
39:52Lori murdered Mike.
40:09having Mike in your life
40:10was a blessing because
40:12the level of dedication
40:14that he showed to not
40:16only his kids and his
40:18friends is unparalleled.
40:21You will never find that
40:22in most people.
40:24He was always that man you
40:25could depend on every
40:27single time.
40:29Mike is definitely,
40:30truly missed.
40:32There's honestly not a
40:33day that goes by that I
40:34actually don't think about
40:34him.
40:35I think about him quite a
40:36lot.
40:47You
40:48you
40:54you
40:59you
41:05You
41:17Austin 9-1-1 there's blood all over her face and all on the back of her head
41:21There were so many bizarre elements to this case 25 year old Mariah Wilson shot multiple times
41:28Whoever did this it was very personal act
41:32I want to hear from you. I think you know what happened
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