New Brunswick murder-case fugitive changes her looks easily, RCMP says

MONCTON, N.B. – A fugitive murder suspect has an uncanny knack for changing her appearance, according to New Brunswick RCMP, who are asking the public to take a closer look at the young mother’s many photos on social media.

“It’s important that people get a good idea of what she looks like,” Const. Jullie Rogers-Marsh said about Marissa Shephard, 20, who hasn’t been seen since mid December.

“Marissa Shephard can change her looks. It is important for people to look at the online photos that we’ve put out as well as what’s on social media and get an idea … of how easily she can change her look.”

Shephard is charged with first-degree murder and arson in the death of 18-year-old Baylee Wylie, whose body was found by firefighters Dec. 17 inside a burned-out triplex in Moncton.

Online photos posted by friends and family variously depict Shephard in pouting glamour poses, as a content mother of a young boy, as a haggard suspect and as a wannabe gangster. One widely distributed photo shows a young woman posing with a gun.

The accused is considered dangerous due to the violent nature of the crime, but police have yet to release details about the cause of death or a possible motive.

Three other young people have since been arrested and charged with the crime, but Shephard remains at large.

Shephard’s parents did not respond to requests for an interview.

However, a news report quotes the woman’s father saying he had no idea where his daughter was, and he feared she might be dead.

Last week, Global News reported that David Shephard said no one has heard from his daughter since Dec. 17, which he described as uncharacteristic.

David Shephard went on to say he believes that if his daughter is alive, she is scared, and he pleaded for her to reach out to him for help.

The woman’s mother, Christine Carson, told Global News she hasn’t seen or spoken to her daughter since before Christmas, when she started looking after Shephard’s young son.

Rogers-Marsh said the two photos the Mounties have distributed of the Moncton woman represent only a small glimpse of her many incarnations on social media.

The constable says the Mounties are reluctant to distribute more photographs unless their authenticity can be verified.

“I know that there are quite a few that are circulating of her, but the ones that we’ve put out are the ones we’ve confirmed to be her.”

Shephard is described as white, 5-foot-5 and weighing about 100 lbs. She has brown eyes, brown hair and has a tattoo with the name Stephen on her neck and a tattoo of a crown on her chest.

The RCMP have followed up on numerous tips about Shephard’s whereabouts, but there’s no indication investigators are making much progress.

“At this time, she really could be anywhere,” Rogers-Marsh said.

Days after the Moncton blaze, a first-degree murder charge was laid against 18-year-old Devin Morningstar.

Tyler Noel, 18, was arrested on a Canada-wide warrant Jan. 9, in Petitcodiac, N.B., after a report of a break and enter at a cottage in Elgin, N.B. The Moncton man has also been charged with first-degree murder and arson.

Police say 18-year-old Zachary Holden of Moncton faces charges of accessory after the fact to murder and unlawfully being in a dwelling, flight from police and dangerous driving.

Twenty-year-old Bradley John Bonnell, of Wheaton Settlement, has been charged with accessory after the fact to murder and unlawfully being in a dwelling.

— By Michael MacDonald in Halifax.

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