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I'm your host Mark.
And I'm Courtney.
And this is Mountain State Mysteries.
The case we have for you today has been our most requested case since the beginning of
Mountain State Mysteries.
It's the case of Angela Sheree's Gwen Stevens.
A case that Courtney and I have grown up hearing about.
A case that took place just miles away from us.
A case that just like everyone else, we wish we had the answers to.
So Courtney, are you ready for the season 2 premier Mountain State Mysteries?
I am.
Angela Sheree's Gwen Stevens was born on June 27, 1970 to Thomas and Sherry Gwen.
To her family and friends, she went by Sheree's.
So from here, we are going to call her Sheree's.
Her family described her as a beautiful baby who grew up to be a pretty young woman.
With blonde hair and blue eyes at 5 foot 3 inches tall and 110 pounds.
She was small for her size, but solidly built.
Sheree's attended Mount Hope High School.
She enjoyed playing the piano and participating in school sports where she was head major at.
Thomas Gwen Sr. said that his daughter had no history of medical problems.
Emotional or physical.
Sheree's friends believed the Gwen's were very good to their daughter and said they gave her everything she wanted.
Family members said they spoiled her.
As she grew older, she became more self-centered and developed a taste for nicer clothes, new cars,
gold jewelry, and trips to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
Sheree's was popular in school and voted best dressed by classmates her senior year at Mount Hope High.
Her friends described her as an independent, outgoing, and persistent person.
They said she was good-hearted but had a bad temper.
In June of 1988, she graduated from Mount Hope High School.
She went to Durham, North Carolina and got a job at a chiropractor's office.
Sheree Gwen said she returned home four or five months later and started working for an Oak Hill chiropractor.
In 1989, Sheree enlisted in the U.S. Navy but aggravated an old injury and was discharged.
Not too long after her return home, she started to work as Spartan sportswear at Crossroads Mall
as an assistant for co-owner Jim Tanner.
Sheree's worked in the business office.
She was smart and quick to learn.
When the store adapted to a new computer system, Tanner said that she helped set up the automated inventory.
While working at Spartans, Sheree smet her future husband, Norman Stevens, during Halloween in 1991.
He came into the store to make a delivery, saw her dress as Dolly Parton,
and asked her out and continued to see her after that.
Friends of Sheree said that once she and Norman were married, on May 2, 1992, they rarely heard from her.
The couple studied karate and enjoyed riding jet skis at Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia.
They also enjoyed traveling to Charlotte, North Carolina on the weekends and would
travel to Daytona Beach in Florida for vacation.
They would end up moving into a house on Norman's family's 98-acre farm.
They would also attend Breckenridge Missionary Baptist Church in Boat.
At work, Tanner observed some tension between Sheree's and another employee.
He said he tried to get them to work it out, but failed.
Sheree's ended up leaving in December of 1992 to attend the College of West Virginia,
which for those of you that live in Beckley, that's now West Virginia Tech.
By August 30th, Sheree started to drop classes.
The last one was dropped on September 29, 1993, just two days before she disappeared.
Her reasoning for dropping classes was that they just didn't fit into her schedule.
Later that day, a family member saw her for the last time.
They said she acted like nothing was wrong.
On October 1st, Sheree's drove Norman to work in the couple's 93 Dodge Daytona.
She dropped Norman off at UPS on industrial drive in Beckley.
Sometime after she dropped Norman off, she picked up her friend Paula Hager for lunch.
During lunch, Sheree asked Paula if she could move in with her, and she said yes.
After lunch, we aren't sure what Sheree's did.
Maybe she ran some errands, maybe she went home to pack up some of her things.
You're listening to Mountain State Mysteries.
In early October, Norman informed her family that Sheree's left him.
He said that she had taken him to work and she didn't come back to get him.
Sherry Quinn said, and I quote, he had to get another ride home.
He told me that she was gone and he didn't know where she was at.
The family ended up doing some investigating at their own, but turned out nothing.
As time went on, her family started to get a concern and needed answers.
Finally, family members filed a missing persons report with the Raleigh County Sheriff's Department.
When officers came to question him, Norman told them Sheree's felt to pick him up after work.
He said that a co-worker drove him home, but never provided the name of who it was.
He said that Sheree's called him later and said that she was in an undisclosed out-of-state
location and that she was never coming back. During this time, Tully turned out to be dead ends.
One was a possible sighting at Aubrey Lane, USA in Nashville, Tennessee,
and the other involved a woman with a similar name in Virginia.
Sheree's name and description were entered into a database at the International Crime
Information Center in Washington to assist the search.
Frustrated with the way the case was being handled, the Gwen family asked for the state police to
take over. Norman was questioned again and for the second time he declined a polygraph test.
Both investigations included a search of several computer databases including the internet,
which in the 90s was still new, Internal Revenue Service and Social Security,
which both showed nothing. Officer Brooks said, quote,
she's not paying taxes on anything. She's not been in a hospital anywhere that we know about.
Social Security and Internal Revenue Service, we've checked all of those places and since
1993 she doesn't exist on paper anywhere, end quote. Suspecting foul play, Brooks coordinated
a search of the former couple's residence in a joining 98 acre farm with dogs trained to detect
cadaver. Not a trace was found other than the same false leads. During this interview,
Norman also told officers how their 93 Dodge Daytona just reappeared in the parking lot of UPS
on November 1, 1993. He sold it later that month, quote, the keys were over the sun visor
and nobody around, end quote. Norman told officers he was absolutely sure that this was the last
time he had ever had contact with her. This would be the last time they ever got to talk to Norman.
He refused a polygraph, which to me isn't anything bad. They're admissible in court
and really can't be used. So Norman basically logged it up and shut up. You might be asking
yourself, how does a car just reappear and no one would see her that we aren't sure about.
But we do know that after Norman sold the car to a man in Charleston that officers actually tracked
it down and put it in their impound lot. We can also confirm that it is in their impound lot
and that it was searched. The inside's completely torn apart and the passenger mirror is broke.
You might be asking yourself, how do we know it's the car? Well, from a picture that you can see on
our Instagram and our website, MountainStateMysteriesPodcast.com, you can see that the passenger side
of the trunk, there is a friends of cold sticker on it. The car had the same exact sticker and the
same rims. The only question we have about the car, why would it have a 2010 sticker on it? It could
be due to the fact that 2010 is the year the officers were able to find the car or that it
could have just been for a different reason. Even though Norman didn't report Cherise missing to
authorities, he did file for divorce on October 27, 1993, just 26 days after her disappearance.
According to court documents, the uncontested divorce was finalized February 14, 1994. Just
down the road from where Norman and Cherise lived, the Breckenridge Missionary Baptist Church was
under construction to build a new addition onto the church. During this time, the construction site
was open not too long after the disappearance of Cherise, that part of the parking lot was paved
over. A year later, the Gwynn family and police asked to search the church and the old septic tank.
Courtney, do you care to read the letter that was sent to the church? Dear members of the Breckenridge
Missionary Baptist Church, we the Gwynn family and friends are looking for Angela Cherise Gwynn
Stevens. At the time of her disappearance, she was living in this area and had gone to this church.
She has been missing for almost 12 years. We need your help in getting closure on this matter.
The reason for this letter is the Gwynn family and friends would like to provide a free service
to your church. We have reason to believe that there are some clues to her whereabouts in the
septic tank located in your parking lot. We would like to have this tank closed out so we can look
for these clues. We would use licensed and trained professionals along with proper authorities to do
this. Please help us to get the closure in this matter. We may no harm to your church. If we find
nothing then no harm was done and we appreciate your help. Just another piece of the puzzle
would be taken care of. If this was your daughter, sister, or friend, what you would like to know,
we ask to get people at the church to please help. Now we know what you're thinking. The church let
them search the old septic tank. Well, sadly they didn't. Members of the church ended up having a
closed door meeting which included Pastor Dewey Lowe and Tom Harmon. Tom is the uncle of Norman
and was a neighbor of Cherise and Norman. Sadly there would be no search of the church for years.
You're listening to Mountain State Mysteries.
As the years went on, Thomas Gwynne never gave up looking for his daughter. He hired a private
investigator that believed Norman didn't go to work at all on the day Cherise was last seen.
The investigator also believes the car she was driving was sold after her disappearance.
Sadly, in 2008, he passed away. He said, quote, when I enter heaven, I'll know exactly what happened
to her. End quote. In March of 2010, officers would obtain a search warrant for an old coal
mining store on Glenview Road in Crab Orchard that was owned by Norman's brother Michael.
Cadaver dogs would end up finding a bone and officers would send it to the Smithsonian in
Washington DC. However, it was just an animal bone. The search was done on a Monday and by Wednesday
police had the building demolished, deeming it unsafe, which I remember seeing the building
when I was a kid and it it was a sketchy looking building. In May of 2014, Raleigh County Commissioners
addressed a variety of issues Tuesday morning, including this end of a sad chapter of the area's
history. From the meeting notes on online petition for presumption of death of Angela Cherise Gwynne
Stevens was presented. A motion was made by Commissioner Ebling to approve the petition
for the presumption of death Angela Cherise Gwynne Stevens. Second, by Commissioner Reed and
motion carried. Dave Tolliver, commission president, said Tuesday that the state police have exhausted
all leads in their search for Stevens. Finally, in 2017, a search of property at the Breckenridge
Missionary Baptist Church was finally conducted. In an article by Jessica Farish for the register
Herald, Thomas Quinn Jr. said, quote, we would like to thank the Breckenridge Missionary Baptist
Church for letting this go forward. Just another potential place illuminated. This was not our
first search and will not be our last. This is the end of a chapter in the beginning of another,
end quote. Under the agreement, Gwynne said church members allowed the family to access the old
septic tank located underneath the church parking lot. Gwynne said, quote, I don't believe she ran
off. I believe somebody killed her, end quote. Gwynne said that during a 1997 search of the Stevens
farm back at Aberdogs, the dogs hit on the spot, but no remains were discovered. It just kind of
brought up the suspicions that Cherise's killer could have maybe put her in the septic tank at the
church. Because at the time it was under construction, he said prior to the Monday search, they may
have moved her there. He said that he is dedicated to finding his sisters, despite the frivolous
church property search. Now we've both been to this church many times throughout the years,
and well I can say we did go there recently just to get an idea of where the spot was dug up,
and I've actually never realized it was that close to the church. I can also say that I've
talked to my grandmother many times while doing research on this, and she does believe that since
the tank wasn't used that there could have possibly been something in there, but there is a chance
that something could definitely not be in there due to all the chemicals. She said basically
sewage and all that will eat anything up just like acid. As of 2014, Cherise's case has been a
homicide case. There's a few things popping up here and there with her case. As of right now,
it is still an open case. We do believe that the questions everyone has will be answered.
The Gwynn family is offering a $1,000 cash reward up to $5,000 for any information helping solve
the murder of Cherise. The Gwynn family also has a PO box set up for any information to be sent to
them. PO box 131 Glen Jean West Virginia 25846 or you can contact Crime Stoppers of West Virginia
at 304-255-7867. You can also email us at Mountain State Mysteries 304 at gmail.com.
Courtney, do you have any final thoughts on this case? I can honestly say that I remember when this
happened. I was about 11 years old when Cherise went missing. I remember just this side of her
overwhelming feeling because everywhere in Bolt, Fairdale, Glen Daniels, Surveyor, everywhere you
went, her missing posters were up and I remember telling my mom, I said she's so pretty. I remember
telling my mom that and just constantly feeling side over it. I have so many questions and we have
discussed this in depth. One of my biggest questions is why did her family wait a year
to report her missing? That is absolutely one of the biggest questions I will have on this case
and it's something I don't understand. I know my mom, for example, my mom would have immediately
contacted the police if she hasn't heard from me and I'm sure that's the way it is with a lot of
our listeners. The other thing that I have questions about is how did the Raleigh County
Commission decide to pursue her dad? How? I'd just like to know what her family thinks about that
with it. I don't know but that part does make me quite angry with it and it just irritates me more
and more and more that I think about it. Mark, do you have any final thoughts? Like Courtney,
I grew up seeing Sharisha's poster on power poles at the post office at the local grocery store.
I always felt sad after seeing her picture because I knew she was missing. Growing up,
my grandmother would always talk about this case because she grew up with her father. He would always
call her baby alderman. There's so many questions and theories I have to this case. I do feel like
answers are on the horizon for the Gwen family and everyone else. We've heard about a few things
happening but we aren't sure if they're legit or if it's, you know, something major in this case.
We actually went to the church not too long before recording this episode to get an idea of
where the old septic tank was and to be honest I never knew it was that close to the church. Also
knowing this case happened minutes away from where we are recording right now has always bothered me.
I've always wondered if she could be on bolt mountain. If she could have been in the septic tank,
could she be at Smith mountain lake? I along with Courtney and really everyone else who knows about
this case have always wondered why it took them so long to let them search the church. It's honestly
never set right with me. To this day, I cannot go into the church and not think about Cherise.
Another thing that really bothers me with this case is the fact that we went to the library to
dig in deep and dive into it. Like we did with episode one, The Case of Nellie and Ray.
There was one article on Cherise and you can actually see it on her website,
mountainstatemysteriespodcast.com. But with that and somehow I was lucky enough to gain
access to the old website her family had for her, that's where most of this information came from
is the one article and the website and just knowing about it. And I've been on the forms for
this case and there's a lot of fact and a lot of fake in it. There's talk about one case of this
woman going missing. I want to say in the 70s and it's not true. There's no graveyard at Breckenridge
church and we have we literally have confirmation from someone that Courtney knows. There's no
no graveyard even connected with that church and that's something that bothers me just how
there's you know a real case and a fake case going around online that they try to tie in
with this church and Cherise is yes. The other one no like to me it just it isn't a thing whatsoever.
Another thing is I do believe someone in bold knows what happened to Angelos Reese Gwyn Stevens.
Next time on Mountain State Mysteries we're going to tell you the story of the Hood Family Massacre.
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