MOORCROFT, Wyo. – A transcript from the Moorcroft Police Department has shed some light on the final days of Shayna Ritthaler – the 16-year-old girl who is believed to be the victim found dead in a basement bedroom in a Sturgis area home.
Police were initially alerted to her disappearance when Moorcroft High School reported she had failed to return from her open lunch period on Thursday, October 3rd.
Fellow students had reported to school administrators that Shayna was last seen walking toward a local coffee shop.
Surveillance video confirmed that Shayna was observed standing at the crosswalk of Country Lane and East Converse Street, and appeared to be texting. Shortly after a grey two-door Jeep Cherokee was seen entering into the southwest portion of the Coffee Cup parking lot from I-90. Shayna was seen walking toward the vehicle and entering into the passenger side. The Jeep left the Coffee Cup parking lot appearing to head southbound on Highway 16.
After speaking with school officials and Shayna’s guardians, and an initial search didn’t turn up any sign of her, she was entered into the system as a runaway. Moorcroft Police determined her cell phone had been deactivated and on Saturday, October 5, got information the Jeep Shayna had gotten into may be in the Lead-Deadwood area.
Police in Deadwood located the vehicle in the Sturgis area on Sunday and a male subject had been contacted in Deadwood, but Shayna was not present.
It was on Monday when Moorcroft police say they were notified by the Meade County Sheriff’s Office that a female subject they believed to be Shayna had been found.
A resulting investigation has led to the recent arrest of Michael Gavin Campbell, Sturgis, SD.
