Couple secretly living on wooded area near home of local family

Historic City News learned Wednesday afternoon that deputies were called when a landowner in rural St Johns County heard the screams of a woman that seemed to be coming from the woods on his property.

The property owner, Ed Osteen and his family, live on about 11 acres of land. He told the St Johns County Sheriff’s Office that he had no knowledge of, and had not given permission to, anyone to be in those woods.

On investigation, deputies found 41-year-old April Villanueva-Roy and 28-year-old Stetson Wayne Shannon in the woods, where they apparently had set up camp and may have been living for months.

According to the incident report, Osteen found evidence of stolen tools, items of clothing from his laundry, and the possible theft of electricity. Deputies discovered a large dumpsite of more than 500 pounds of trash created by the couple.

Shannon, who gave booking officers his home address as St Francis House, an emergency shelter in St Augustine, had just been released from custody on July 17th after posting a $2,500 bond on first-degree misdemeanor battery charges.

Both Shannon and Villanueva-Roy, who gave her residence address as 440 McLeod Road in Saint Augustine, have been charged in this incident with criminal mischief, involving a loss of more than $200, trespassing, and creating a commercial hazard by dumping over 500 pounds of litter; a third-degree felony.

No report of why the woman was screaming or if she had sustained any injuries.

The couple remains in custody, each in lieu of bonds totaling $3,500.