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

TARPON SPRINGS, FL -- Tarpon Springs Police detectives say the son-in-law of the couple found dead in their home at the Meadows mobile home community has admitted to killing his in-laws and their 25-year-old son, along with the family's three small dogs.

Tarpon Springs detectives flew to Lakewood, Ohio, where Shelby John Nealy, aka Shelby Svensen, 25, has been taken into custody by the Lakewood Police. After interviewing Nealy, the Tarpon Springs Police have issued a warrant against him on three counts of first-degree murder.

The department is making arrangements to extradite him back to Florida.

According to Tarpon Springs Police Maj. Jeff Young, the breakthrough in the triple homicide came when neighbors in the tight-knit community came forward to say they had recently seen a man in his 20s with a small child at the mobile home at 1954 Juanita Way outside digging a ditch. The description of the man matched the victims' son-in-law.

Police discovered the bodies of Richard Louis Ivancic, 71, Laura Ann Ivancic, 59, and, their son, Nicholas James Ivancic, 25, on Jan. 1 when a concerned out-of-town relative hadn't heard from the family and asked police to check on them.

All three bodies along with the three dogs were in an advanced state of decomposition, police said. Young said the medical examiner estimates that they died late on Dec. 19 or 20.

Nealy is married to the Ivancics' daughter, Jamie Nicole Ivancic, 21. The couple have two children, ages 2 and 3. Jamie Ivancic is missing and has been listed in the National Crime Information Center's database as a missing endangered adult.

"We fear Jamie may be a victim, too, in this case," said Young.

With the help of State Attorney's Office investigators and the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, Tarpon Springs detectives traced Nealy's movements through business transactions. He sold video games at a Game Stop store and made purchases at a McDonald's and Home Depot in the week following the homicides.

The case eventually led detectives to Lakewood, Ohio, where Nealy has ties. They contacted the Lakewood Police Department, which located a 2013 purple Kia Sorrento registered to Laura Ann Ivancic at an apartment building.

Lakewood Police waited for Nealy to emerge from the apartment building and then took him into custody Thursday. The two children were in the apartment and have been taken into protective custody by the Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Children and Family Services Division.

Although Nealy admitted to taking part in the murders in Tarpon Springs, Young said he has given no information on his wife's whereabouts.

Anyone who has any information on where she might be is asked to call the Tarpon Springs Police at 727-937-1558.

See related story from Lakewood Patch: SUV Found In Lakewood Connected To Florida Murders

See related story: 3 People, 3 Dogs Found Dead In Homicide In Tarpon Springs Home

Image via Lakewood Police

Shelby Nealy

Images via Tarpon Springs Police

Janie Ivancic

Richard, Laura and Nicholas Ivancic

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