The Brutal Murder of Shellie Carson
On August 14, 2005, 18-year-old Mary Rachel Carson, known to her friends as, “Shellie,” was found brutally beaten to death in a traffic circle of a quiet neighborhood in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Shellie was alive and well just two hours before her body was discovered.
Surveillance from a nearby 7-Eleven captured Shellie visiting with a friend who worked there, before leaving on her bike at 3:50 a.m.
A Navy Seal (Virginia Beach and surrounding areas is home to many military installations) saw Shellie entering Kings Grant Circle, heading toward her home. On August 14, 2005, between 4 am and 4:15. He observed Shellie on her bike entering the circle and going to the right–with traffic. He remembered that as he started to go around the circle, Shellie turned her head to look at him and she rode her bike into the circle. He then passed her and turned right onto Kings Grant Road heading towards his home, - a block and a half from Shellie’s.
A second witness out walking his dog said he saw Shellie further down the road at 4:06 a.m., still riding her bike.
At 6:08 a.m., a driver passing through the traffic circle discovered the gruesome scene and called the police.
The bicycle Shellie had been riding all night was found discarded nearby in the grass. Her parents, Bill & Charlotte Carson went to church Sunday morning with their son, Drew (both Drew & Shellie were adopted & in fact - only 40 days apart in age) and didn’t think much, but had assumed Shellie had stayed the night at her fiance’s place the night before and would return home later. On their way, they noticed police tape up at the traffic circle & didn’t think anything of it - because why would you assume that it was your daughter? He ended up driving back to the scene after hearing that a woman had been found dead there. He approached police and was told to grab a photo of Shellie, and upon viewing the photo, police asked Bill if Shellie owned a pair of pink tennis shoes, to which he replied, ‘yes.’ She was so badly beaten, that she was identified by her tennis shoes.
According to 13 News Now, Detective Kevin Finelli, with the VA Beach Cold Case Unit, Shellie lying on her back, partially under some trees. Her shirt was pulled up, exposing her upper torso, she was naked from the waist down and her face was bloodied. She was unrecognizable.
EMS pronounced her dead at the scene, and the autopsy revealed her cause of death to be blunt force trauma to the head. Finelli also disclosed that it was evident that a sexual act had been, “attempted,” though we cannot be certain of what exactly that means. Her pants were nowhere to be found and to this day still have not been found. While police speculate that the pants could have been taken by the killer as an attempt to cover evidence, as a trophy, or even dragged away by an animal, I would be inclined to lean toward the killer neglecting to return them to the “dump site” which I’ll return to discuss in more detail shortly.
Various news reports also indicate that there were beer cans, cigarette butts, and a rose nearby, but that they may not even be related to the case.
In one interview, Shellie’s dad, Bill, disclosed that Shellie was someone who had a lot of partners, a lot of friends, and knew a lot of people. He also said that she had started getting in trouble around age 14 - using drugs, hanging out with the wrong crowd. While it is known that Shellie had dabbled in drug use previously, her toxicology report showed that nothing was in her system at the time of her death. I feel that she was in fact clean (at least that night).
What I’m seeing is her riding her bike home from 711 and entering the traffic circle, she veers off to the right on her bike, and a light, large sedan enters the circle going the opposite way, they tap her with the car so she falls off the bike. I see them following from 711, but because she was accompanied by her friend, she wasn’t approached until he left her to finish her ride home on her own. After knocking her from her bike, and realizing that they had in fact injured her, they then get her into the car. I believe that at this time, it is two young males - at most around 20-years-old, but possibly younger. I also believe they’re pretty high on some sort of hard drug - though my lack of familiarity with hard drugs makes it hard for me to say just what they’re on, judging by how amped up they feel - I’d venture to say they had been drinking and doing cocaine.
Anyway, they leave her bike there in Kings Grant traffic circle and drive her to someone else’s property, another friend of theirs in the neighborhood. Now here, there are 2-3 other people hanging out. It looks like two more young people and someone a bit older. Remember, there are some details that I wouldn’t feel comfortable sharing here, as the case has actually been reopened as of August 2020. The area looks to me as if it’s wooded and also has a mix of dirt and sand, possibly by the water. I do have a few friends who live in the neighborhood she was raised in and found dead in. That neighborhood has a fair amount of trees and a lot of the property there is right near some water. I believe they finished beating her to death with whatever they found nearby on the friend’s property - which happened to be a hammer as well as some wooden boards. I feel that at least two people took part in the actual beating.
From there, I think they removed her pants to make it appear as if she had been sexually assaulted and used a different vehicle - a larger vehicle like a truck or van - to take her back to the traffic circle where her bike was still located laying near the roadside. I think they dragged her to the second vehicle and once they arrived at the site, they carried her and dropped her into the lawn where she was found and realized they didn’t have her pants. I 100% see this as an oversight - an “oh-shit” moment where they now have evidence that they must get rid of, and the older person who was there took it upon himself to burn the evidence again, on someone else’s property. There are two locations and two vehicles used in the committing of this murder.
I believe that these guys have some sort of gang affiliation and that Shellie may have as well. I do think that Shellie was a sweet girl who was looking for her own way in life, and battling demons she didn’t even know about. I think that she struggled with what was wrong versus right and what fits her verses didn’t. She didn’t feel that she fit into the affluent lifestyle of her parents, nor did she feel she fit into the drug scene. Desperate to fit in with anyone, I believe she fell into the wrong crowd and when she decided she was in the wrong crowd and didn’t like what she was seeing of that lifestyle, I believe they “tied up loose ends,” so to speak. The tap with the car into the bike would have been a warning - that went entirely wrong and everything else was to cover their asses.
Why hasn’t anyone come forward? It is my understanding that the main assailant has a reputation that has led others to fear him. I don’t believe that anyone feels comfortable in coming forward or that they wouldn’t be targeted even now if they did.
What’s even sadder is that both Bill and Charlotte Carson have passed away before knowing what happened to their daughter that early morning in August 2005. This case has about a million and one rabbit holes to go down once you start - and when I felt into it, I originally had a lot of gaps and confusion. I spoke to a few people who grew up in this area who were able to confirm much of what I saw and fill in the gaps of my visions with their knowledge of the area, so much of it started to make sense. I really feel like this crime could have been prevented, but also that she would have had to move far away to escape this person. I know that there were other threats made and so many things that I could go into, but for the sake of keeping it short, if you have questions, please feel free to send them via messenger or on IG, email them, whatever you like.
If anything makes sense to you or is sparking a memory for you, please report it to the authorities - Justice for Shellie or Crime Stoppers in Virginia Beach, even the Virginia Beach Police Department. The case has been reopened and it’s so important that this poor girl is spoken for and that we continue to do our due diligence for those who can no longer fight for it themselves.
