In the autumn of 2015, the community of Selma, Oregon, was unsettled by the discovery of a deceased man at Lake Selmac. Roger Huntington, a 43-year-old White male from Crescent City, California, was found inside his black Chevrolet Trailblazer near the boat ramp on the evening of Friday, October 23, 2015. The circumstances of his death immediately pointed towards foul play, prompting an extensive investigation by law enforcement.
The Josephine County Sheriff's Office initially responded
to the scene and, upon assessing the situation, requested the assistance of the Oregon State Police. The case was quickly classified as a homicide, and the Josephine County Major Crime Team was activated to lead the investigation. While authorities confirmed that there was clear evidence of a homicide, the specific cause of death was not immediately released to the public, a common practice to protect the integrity of the ongoing investigation. Investigators made a public plea for information, asking anyone who had been in the vicinity of Lake Selmac on that Friday afternoon and might have seen Huntington or his vehicle to come forward.
Within a couple of days, the investigation made significant progress, leading to the arrest of two suspects from Texas. Blake Shibley and Carroll Ballard were taken into custody in connection with the death of Roger Huntington. They were subsequently charged with murder and robbery, suggesting a motive behind the tragic event. While these two individuals were apprehended, law enforcement officials indicated that they were also seeking a third person of interest in the case. The swift arrests brought some measure of resolution to the initial shock of the discovery, though the search for the additional suspect continued as the legal proceedings against Shibley and Ballard began.
