Woman’s body found wrapped in camper after she went missing, WV officials say
Days after a West Virginia woman was reported missing, her body was found wrapped in a blanket inside a camper, prosecutors and reports said.
Now, 40-year-old Ryan Marshall has been sentenced to 40 years in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder in March, the Mason County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office said in an April 11 news release. Marshall will also pay $1 a week to a domestic violence shelter while he’s in jail.
According to the release, 54-year-old Sarah Smith was killed in February 2024 along a road in Point Pleasant, about a 110-mile drive southeast from Columbus, Ohio.
Marshall told authorities he shot Smith — his girlfriend at the time — in the forehead, according to a criminal complaint that said Smith was found with “severe head trauma,” WOWK reported.
A witness said the couple had been fighting, and Marshall threatened Smith in connection with a red SUV he is accused of stealing, according to a complaint, WSAZ reported.
“Violence in this county will not be tolerated, and my heart goes out to the family of Sarah Smith, whose senseless death will hopefully serve as a reminder to us all that life is worth more than a momentary fit of rage,” prosecutor Seth Gaskins said in the release.
This story was originally published April 14, 2025 at 5:24 PM with the headline "Woman’s body found wrapped in camper after she went missing, WV officials say."
