CHAIN OF EVENTS SET OFF BY REPORTING TO POLICE BY THE WOMAN’S CONCERNED FAMILY, LEADS TO FINDING OF BODY, AN ARREST OF SUSPECT, WHOSE ESTRANGED WIFE ALSO WENT MISSING IN MIDDLE OF THIS YEAR
DECEMBER 31, 2020 – written by WADE QUEEN
TRIANGLE OF MYSTERY…AND DEATH IN PIKE COUNTY, KENTUCKY: CHADWICK S. HUNT (PHOTO ON LEFT), CIARA MORGAN O’BRIEN (MIDDLE PHOTO), & VALERIE SHANTELL HUNT (PHOTO at bottom). BOTH WOMEN WERE REPORTED MISSING, WITH O’BRIEN LIKELY DEAD, AND VALERIE HUNT, MARRIED TO CHADWICK HUNT, SAFETY IS UNKNOWN AT THIS TIME.
What started out as a missing person case of a woman in Pike County by her family after they had not heard from her since exactly the week before Christmas, has taken an ominous and tragic turn, with a discovery of a body at a lake park and an arrest by a confessing suspect, who has his own separate twist of what has now become a dire mystery.
The chain of events in this saga began on December 21, when the Kentucky State Police Post 9, in Pikeville, was contacted on December 21, 2020, in reference to a missing Pike County woman by the woman’s family.
The initial investigation by the KSP Post 9, led by trooper Sheldon Thomas, indicated in the report that the missing woman, identified as Clara Morgan O’Brien, 39 years old, of Feds Creek, Kentucky, last contacted her boyfriend on Friday, December 18, 2020.
KSP Post 9, in their asking plea for help from the public for any information that could lead to the whereabouts of Ciara Morgan O’Brien, was described physically as a white female, 5’10” tall, 140 lbs., with long brown hair and green eyes.
There was very little information reported in the following several days about the status circumstances relating to Ciara Morgan O’Brien, that is until KSP Post 9 Pikeville received a call on Sunday, December 27, 2020, just after 8:00 P.M., where the caller advised a possible unidentified deceased human body had been located at Fishtrap Lake in the Lick Creek area of Pike County.
Kentucky State Police Post 9 troopers and detectives responded to the area. Their initial investigation indicated an unidentified body had been located near the park area of Fishtrap Lake in the Lick Creek community. The body was sent to the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Frankfort for autopsy and identification. The cause of death is still under investigation.
The ongoing death investigation is being conducted by KSP Post 9 Detective Dustin Thompson. Detective Thompson was assisted on the case scene by Kentucky State Police Post 9 personnel and Feds Creek Volunteer Fire Department.
No other information was released by KSP Post 9 for the next couple of days until Wednesday, December 30, when both cases took a major unexpected turn of events, when an arrest by KSP Post 9 in Pike County on late Tuesday evening revealed that the search for a missing woman and the discovery of the unidentified body at Lick Creek may be connected.
Chadwick S. Hunt, 44, of Lick Creek, was arrested by trooper Chase Maynard on Tuesday, December 29, after a search warrant was served at Chadwick Hunt’s home, in which he was then charged with abuse of a corpse and tampering with physical evidence, after the unidentified body, which was revealed as a woman, was found near Chadwick Hunt’s home on Sunday.
According to the arrest citation report, Chadwick Hunt told KSP Post 9 Detective Dustin Thompson that a woman named “Morgan” had died December 19 and that he had moved her body to the location where it was found.
KSP Post 9 are not commenting at this time, but court records indicated they believe “Morgan” is Clara Morgan O’Brien, who was last known to have contacted her boyfriend December 18. The body was sent to the state Medical Examiner’s Office in Frankfort for autopsy and positive identification.
As this case was not mysterious and tragic enough, in a disturbing coincidence, Chadwick Hunt is also married to another woman who was reported missing this year, Valerie Shantell Hunt, although the two are estranged. Valerie Hunt, 39 years old, of Pikeville, went missing back in July, after last contacting her family from a Lick Creek residence.
Family members told Pike County media outlet Mountain Top News that they last heard from Valerie Hunt on July 30, in which she was alleged by Hunt’s family that she was at her estranged husband’s home around the time she went missing. Valerie Hunt’s family reported her missing to KSP Post 9 in Pikeville on August 12.
The KSP Post 9 missing report of Valerie Hunt that was released on Sept. 22 to the public for information help gave her physical description of Valorie Hunt as a white female, 5 feet 8 inches tall, 160 pounds, with curly dark brown hair and brown eyes.
At this time, there is no indication from Pike County law enforcement officials that Chadwick Hunt had any involvement in his estranged wife’s disappearance.
Law enforcement officials in Pike County believe that Valerie Hunt may have gone on the run due to her recent major criminal troubles in Pike and Letcher County.
On Monday, October 8, 2019, Pike County Sheriff Department deputies responded before 12:00 P.M. to the Shelby Valley area after someone called them and reported suspicious activity, and found Valerie Hunt, 38, of Belcher hiding inside the Shelby Valley Clinic.
Deputies discovered Valerie Hunt was wanted out of Letcher County on three meth related charges and took her into custody. In a container on her keychain, they found several crushed pills. She also had two knives on her person, one inside a pocket in her pants and one hidden inside her bra.
Pike County Sheriff Department Sergeant. Kevin Belcher said once jail staff conducted a more thorough search, five small plastic bags containing what is believed to be meth were found in the scrunchies holding her hair up.
Valerie Hunt was facing a charge of possession of meth as well as three other related charges for the October 2019 arrest, as well in addition to the three meth related charges in Letcher County.
Valerie Hunt has been arrested five times between April 25, 2017 and July 9, 2020, on 11 criminal charges, mostly meth, theft, and promoting contraband charges.
Chadwick Hunt is currently being held at the Pike County Detention Center in Pikeville, on a $25,000 full-cash only bond. Chadwick Hunt’s first court date is tentatively set for Monday, January 4, 2021, at 9:00 A.M.
Why was it so important for you to say her past charges? It isnt like thats going to help anyone find her.