Body Could Be Wife Of Accused In Tarpon Springs Triple Homicide

PORT RICHEY, FL -- The Medical Examiner's Office is determining if a body found buried in a yard in Port Richey is the wife of a man accused of a triple homicide in Tarpon Springs.

On Sunday around 5:30 p.m., Pasco County Sheriff's Office detectives and forensic anthropologists from the University of South Florida located a body buried in the yard of a home at 10930 Norwood Ave. Although authorities haven't confirmed, neighbors say this may be the home the accused killer lived in with his wife and children.

The Pasco Sheriff's Office has confirmed that it began its search at that location after Tarpon Springs Police received a tip from Shelby John Nealy, 25, the man charged with three counts of first-degree murder following the discovery of the bodies of a Tarpon Springs couple and their son in their mobile home on New Year's Day.

See related story: Tarpon Springs Triple Homicide: Son-In-Law Admits Role, Cops Say

After a relative called Tarpon Springs Police when they were unable to reach Richard Ivancic, 71, and his wife, Laura Ann, 59, police went to their home at 1954 Juanita Way in the Meadows mobile home community and found the couple, their son, Nicholas James Ivancic, 25, and three small dogs dead inside. The medical examiner believes they were killed between Dec. 19 and 20.

The Ivancics' daughter, Jamie Nicole Ivancic, 21, could not be located. She is married to Nearly and the couple have two children, ages 2 and 3. She was listed in the National Crime Information Center's database as a missing endangered adult.

Nealy became a suspect in the triple homicide after neighbors reported seeing him digging in the yard at the mobile home on Juanita Way. Neighbors say Nealy and his family previously lived in the mobile home but had moved out.

After discovering that Nealy had ties to Lakewood, Ohio, Tarpon Springs Police contacted the Lakewood Police Department.

According to the Lakewood Patch, on Thursday morning, Lakewood Police located Laura Ann Ivancic's 2013 purple Kia Sorrento at a home in Lakewood.

Officers then staked out the SUV. When Nealy left a nearby house at 7:30 p.m., he was taken into custody. His two children were found safe inside the home and taken to Cuyahoga County Children and Family Services. Nealy is being held at Lakewood City Jail.

Tarpon Springs Police detectives flew to Ohio and questioned Nealy who admitted to taking part in the deaths of his in-laws and brother-in-law.

He will be extradited to Pinellas County where he will face first-degree murder charges.

Laura Ivancic is the sister of the former police chief of North Royalton, Ohio, James Zindroski, who gave a media interview on Friday.

He said his brother-in-law, Richard Ivancic, retired from the Cleveland Electric Illuminating Co. His sister worked for a number of years as a pharmacy technician. However, she longed to be a stay-at-home mom. When the couple was not able to conceive a child of their own, they became foster parents and eventually adopted Nicholas and Jamie, Zindroski said.

Although Nealy, also known as Shelby John Svenson, was originally from Houston, Texas, he moved to Ohio where he met and married Jamie Ivancic, according to Zindroski. Nealy worked at a supermarket and Jamie Ivancic worked from home as a telemarketer.

Nealy “pretty much kept to himself,” Zindroski said, and was vague when asked about his past. Zindroski said he used "three or four aliases" and did not have a valid driver's license though Nealy never explained why.

“He had been in for counseling and had committed himself once or twice, I think (for) violence issues, but that was something we were never really privy to,” Zindroski told media. “I think he had some pretty deep-seated psychological issues.”

When Richard and Laura retired and moved to Florida about five years ago, Nealy and Jamie Ivancic, along with the couple's son, relocated with them.

Nealy and Jamie Ivancic's two children, 3-year-old Bella Rose and 2-year-old Oliver, were born after the move.

Image via Lakewood Police

Shelby Nealy, aka Svenson

Image via Tarpon Springs Police

Jamie Ivancic

Images via Google Earth

Nealy was taken into custody after emerging from this home on Newman Avenue in Lakewood, Ohio.

The Pasco County Sheriff's Office said it uncovered a body in the yard of this home at 10930 Norwood Ave. in Port Richey.

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