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Bedford woman charged in killing

Authorities find body of Maryland man in Cumberland Valley Twp.

A 39-year-old Bedford woman is one of three defendants charged with criminal homicide in the death of a 50-year-old Cumberland, Md., man — whose body was found late Friday down an embankment along Lake Gordon Road in Cumberland Valley Township, Bedford County, according to state police in Bedford.

Heather R. Schade is in Bedford County jail, along with fellow defendants James A. Wallace, 29, of Randallstown, Md., and Dovonta D. Gaines, 22, of Baltimore, all of whom were arraigned Sunday, according to police and a jail official.

The body of victim Gary Shriver Jr. was found by Game Commission officers after a call about a disturbance near where Lake Gordon Road intersects Pine Ridge Road, according to a police news release.

Shriver died of “exsanguination,” or loss of blood, said deputy coroner Rocky Fetter, adding that the manner of death was homicide.

Lake Gordon Road curves along the shoreline of Lake Gordon, a reservoir for the city of Cumberland, which in places lies 50 or more feet below the level of the road, down steep embankments.

According to William Miller, who lives on Pine Ridge Road, police were conducting an investigation at a curve on Pine Ridge, just south of the northernmost of two dams in the area — the dam over which Evitts Creek Road runs.

The embankment at that location is actually that steep — not nearly as steep or high as embankments along Lake Gordon Road, closer to the southernmost dam, which is located next to the Evitts Creek Water Co. treatment plant.

Bail was denied to Schade and Wallace, according to online court documents. There was no online document that listed Gaines.

State police declined to provide a copy of the criminal complaint.

Asked whether the discovery of the body nearby upset him, Miller spoke of the increasing frequency of disturbing incidents in the area since the construction and full opening of the maximum security North Branch (state) Correctional Institution near Cumberland in 2008 — along with the 1994 opening of the Federal Correctional Institution in Cumberland.

There also seems to be a general loosening of morals, Miller added.

The discovery of Shriver’s body recalls the homicide shooting in July of Daniel J. Sufczynski of Essex, Md., at a cabin in Southampton Township, which is in a valley just east of the one occupied by Cumberland Valley Township.

Schade previously this year pleaded guilty to misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance, possession of paraphernalia and a weapons offense, all linked in a single case. Also this year, she pleaded guilty also to misdemeanor receiving stolen property, according to the state’s online court database.

Wallace was charged with theft of less than $1,000 value in 2013, but the charge was dropped, according to the state of Maryland’s online court database.

There is no listing in the Maryland database for Gaines.

Shriver’s list of prior offenses is extensive in the Maryland database, with current charges that include narcotics distribution and drug possession.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 949-7038.

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