Timeline

Jan 3. 2017 

Alexander Stevens’ family becomes concerns about his whereabouts. According to court documents, Steven Moon, a friend of Alexander’s, drove to the High Rock area of Savage River State Forest to search for him. 

Moon said he spotted two cars at a trailhead parking lot around 11 p.m. Police later determined one car belonged to Megan Shaffer, Stevens’ girlfriend. The other car was identified as Stevens’.

Moon said the key in Shaffer’s automobile was turned to the auxiliary position, the car’s lights were on and the radio was playing. 

He began hiking the 1-mile trail, eventually finding candles that had been burned, a live cat in a cage and a bag with clothing inside. After calling loudly for Stevens, Moon collected the cat and left the area. 

Several agencies responded to the scene for an organized search.

Jan. 4

Sometime after 7:30 a.m., Shaffer, who had entered an unoccupied residence on a nearby road, found a cellphone and called 911.

Officers found her undressed, under a blanket, suffering from frostbite, a broken shoulder and possibly a broken back. 

Shaffer told police she and Stevens had walked to the edge of High Rock drop off — a vertical fall of 33 feet, according to investigators — where they disrobed and fell.

At roughly 9:30 a.m., Stevens’ body was found on a logging road not far from the house where Shaffer was found. Stevens was naked, lying facedown, and a knife with a 7-inch blade lay near his head.

Authorities said his throat had been cut deeply with “more than one swipe.” 

An autopsy later showed Stevens also had broken ribs and a punctured lung.

It’s been more than eight months since the body of a young man was found — naked, his throat slashed — near spent candles and a live cat in a cage in Mountain Maryland woods.

The case, shrouded in mysterious details including a fight over $188,000, seemed to be running cold as police wouldn’t name a suspect. That changed on Thursday, when the girlfriend of the deceased was arrested for his death.

Megan Virginia Shaffer, 21, has been charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter and assisting to commit or attempt to commit suicide, all in connection to the death of 24-year-old Alexander Arthur Stevens, found dead on Jan. 4, 2017. 

In March, the medical examiner’s office ruled the death of Stevens a homicide.

While mention of murder and suicide in the charges appear to be contradictory, police have declined comment throughout the investigation.

“Shaffer and Alexander Arthur Stevens, 24, Frostburg, were reported missing in the Savage River State Forest late on January 4, 2017,” the news release states. “While efforts were underway by Natural Resources Police and other emergency responders to locate the pair, Shaffer made a ‘911’ call to authorities to provide her location. With the assistance of the MSP helicopter, Stevens’s body was located in the State Forest a short while later.” 

Court records state Jay Stevens, Alexander’s father, told police that his son had been acting strangely ever since being forced out of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in 2014.

“He’d grown his hair longer … was reading about religions, thinking about his place in society,” Jay Stevens told the Cumberland Times-News in July. “I never, never, ever, ever thought that he was suicidal … I know my son.”

Shaffer, listed in court records as being born on Sept. 11, 1996, is being held in the Garrett County Detention Center pending her initial appearance before the Circuit Court. 

Shaffer’s arrest comes after a months-long court battle over a bank account Stevens established days before his death.

According to Circuit Court for Allegany County documents, Alexander Stevens on December 28 — one week before his death — authorized a wire transaction and closed the funds in a investment account. He transferred the funds, $188,003.98, to financial services firm Edward Jones and named Shaffer as beneficiary of the new account.

The wire transfer was completed on Jan. 6, two days after his death. At that time, his father, as personal representative of his estate, requested the court issue a temporary restraining order to prevent Edward Jones from distributing the money.

In court records, Jay Stevens via his attorney, lists several reasons to stay the funds, including:

“It appears the activity taking place in the woods surrounding (Pine Swamp Road) was planned for a period of approximately (two) weeks, during which time the decedent and Megan Shaffer focused irrationally on this event.”

The document also states Alexander Stevens was “not of sound mind or capacity” when he executed the transfer.

Details from this story were provided by the Cumberland, Maryland, Times-News.