Police arrested a man on suspicion of murder this month, 14 years after he allegedly killed a man in Virginia. The victim’s body has never been found.
Virginia man Shane Ryan Donahue is presumed dead, Prince William County police said Tuesday. He was last seen leaving his parents’ home in Nokesville, Virginia, on March 22, 2010. Donahue, 23, was headed to his Nokesville home but never arrived.
Donahue was added to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System after he disappeared. According to the records, Donahue did not own a car and was often taken by friends. He frequented Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Fauquier County, Virginia, and Northern Virginia.
The case has baffled investigators, who have followed a number of leads over the years. This spring, detectives restarted the investigation and began reviewing every detail of the case from scratch, officials said. They revisited people interviewed during the initial investigation and reviewed “digital evidence in greater detail due to advances in analytical technology and modern police investigative methods,” according to a news release.
Officers said Donahue was last seen leaving his parents’ home with Timothy Sean Hickerson, now a 43-year-old Florida resident. Detectives linked Hickerson to a burglary at Donahue’s home that occurred days before the Virginia man disappeared.
Detectives obtained an arrest warrant this month and, with the assistance of the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office in Florida, Hickerson was taken into custody in Palm Coast, Florida. Hickerson was charged with murder and burglary and will now be extradited to Virginia.
