This was what was being distributed on the internet across various social networking sites prior to November 22: Makayla Casey, 15, and the man she’d been hanging out with, Richland County felon Joshua O. Spivey, shown first in a mugshot, then a selfie, and then his vehicle he was last known to drive. Family was saying the two were last seen together on November 7.
RICHLAND CO. – The dysfunctional world of meth movers and children having children may have lead to another crime out of Richland County, and while a missing girl has been returned home safe to Olney, there’s been little made available about the man she was with for two weeks.
Fifteen-year-old Makayla Casey was returned home Sunday, November 22. She went missing Nov. 7, but it took a full 11 days after she was last seen by family before authorities announced on Nov. 18 that she was officially considered missing.
Why the delay, especially after a concerted effort to make the situation known to the public was put forth by Casey’s family, is unknown.
However, that wasn’t the only aspect of the situation on which authorities were holding back.
In the official “missing” posters, the Olney Police Department, who is in charge of the investigation, stated only that Casey “may be in the company of an adult male and female juvenile” as it regards who Casey’s family says she’s with.
And while it remains unclear why authorities wouldn’t name the man who’s featured in a number of online posts on connection with Casey’s disappearance, it appears that the situation, considering who it involves, isn’t exactly unexpected…and that fact might be what has OPD somewhat reserved.
Messed-up family sitch
Casey is a daughter of Angel Phipps, 37, whose meth possession case in Richland County, filed in February of 2014, has yet to make its way through the court system.
Phipps’ other daughter is Tammy Casey, now 17, who, at age 13, became a limited target of internet ostracism when she announced she was pregnant.
Makayla Casey, as it turned out, was apparently having a relationship of sorts with one Joshua Spivey, 29, a convicted felon out of Richland County.
On September 29, Phipps took out an order of protection against Spivey, ostensibly on behalf of her daughter Makayla. The OP was entered that day on an emergency basis.
However, for whatever reason, Phipps took out a second OP on October 26; that one, too, was entered on an emergency basis, with a plenary (two-year) hearing scheduled to be held on Nov. 16.
That date was not kept.
As it turned out, Makayla Casey was by that time already missing a full nine days, suspected to be with Spivey.
Shadowens post
According to posts issued by Lacy Shadowens on Facebook on Saturday, November 21, the family believed at that time that Casey and Spivey were possibly in the Carbondale area.
There was no indication of why the family believed that to be the case.
Shadowens indicted that it was possible Casey was using her older sister Tammy’s name, or the name “Tara Foster” (again, no explanation provided as to why she would use the Foster name).
She stated that Casey and Spivey were found in Bicknell, Indiana, on an undisclosed date after Casey went missing on November 7; Shadowens said the two were pulled over by police at that time and “gave fake names.”
“Days later,” Shadowens wrote, “the officer noticed a flyer and contacted Olney police.”
Shadowens indicated that the two “fled on foot,” but from what, and when, was unclear.
Shadowens then said Casey’s mother (Phipps) went to the house of the woman with whom the girl and Spivey were living “comfortably,” accompanied by police, and retrieved Casey’s belongings that were there.
The woman with whom the two were staying – who remained unidentified in the post – said that Spivey had sold his car to her. That, however, might not have been true according to Shadowens, and so a photo of Spivey’s red passenger car was included in flyers being issued about the girl.
Bad allegations
The woman, Shadowens indicated, “also tipped the police with the phone number Josh was using.” The police, Shadowens said, “talked to them and was tracking them. Later got a ping from the phone in Olney, which his brother Justin now has.”
Then Shadowens alleged that “there was drug equipment on their bed for meth as well.”
Shadowens then made a strange statement:
“Makayla does not have the mental mind compasity (capacity, possibly – ed.) of a 15-year-old,” Shadowens wrote, not explaining that statement, but going on to say that if anyone saw the pair, “do NOT let them out of your sight until your local police department is contacted and within reaching distance of them.”
Included in thread under Shadowens’ post were photos of handwritten letters Casey left for her mother at the end of October. These letters seem to indicate her relationship with someone Phipps is disapproving of, but don’t note Spivey’s name directly.
Phipps, however, has weighed in, stating that Casey has “run off” with Spivey before…which might, in great likelihood, be the reason it appears that local authorities weren’t taking this matter as seriously as they probably should.
Spivey: Not a good guy
Spivey is a Richland County felon from 2005 (Burglary) and 2008 (Theft), and is currently under a September 28, 2015 charge of Aggravated Fleeing/Criminal Damage to Property over $300.
He also has misdemeanor convictions of Battery from 2013, and the gateway crime of Illegal Consumption from 2006.
He is, however, charged in Knox County, Indiana, where Bicknell is located, with a count of Resisting or fleeing from law enforcement, and is set for a hearing on that matter December 9.
The count comes on the heels of a traffic infraction he’s also been cited for, that one being filed Nov. 8, which could be indication of the last time the two were seen in Bicknell, and during which time they ran from police, as indicated in Shadowens’ post.
Subsequent (and gloating) posts on Facebook, say friends of Spivey’s, have indicated he was, at least for a portion of the girl’s disappearance, in the Bicknell area, as the “Bicknell” imprint shows up on messages to individuals when Spivey sends them.
Upon Casey’s return on the evening of Sunday, Nov. 22, there was no indication of Spivey’s fate, where he was, whether he’d been arrested, or what. There was only gratitude on the part of the Casey family for the assistance the public had shown in helping them find the teen.
While neither Illinois nor Indiana law enforcement ever officially noted that Spivey was the one most likely with Casey, when he begins not showing up for his upcoming court appearances and the warrants begin to be issued, perhaps a more comprehensive and serious search for him will ensue.