Three people are charged with receiving stolen property in connection with guns reported missing from an Adamsburg home, according to state police.
Nine handguns were discovered at a Hempfield man’s house last week after investigators uncovered text messages and photographs of some of the missing firearms on a cell phone belonging to one of the suspects, according to court papers. Troopers said the guns were found at the home of David John Shellgren, 58, who told authorities that he didn’t know where they came from.
State police were notified of the missing guns in mid-September by the previous caretaker of the Adamsburg home, where no one was living. The home was found ransacked when the previous caretaker stopped by and four gun cases were empty, police said. As many as 40 guns were listed as stolen from the house.
Investigators began to unravel the case when, in mid-September, Greensburg police pulled over a car being driven by George Raymond Weightman III, 43, of Youngwood. Inside the vehicle, police reported finding drugs, coins and jewelry, along with bolt cutters and a crowbar, according to court papers. Police said they got search warrants for the phones of Weightman and his passenger, Kara Lynn Carter, 35, of Greensburg.
On Weightman’s phone, police found photos of 11 guns — at least two of which had been reported stolen from the Adamsburg home, according to court papers. One of the photos appeared to have been taken from inside Weightman’s vehicle, police said. Carter told authorities that Weightman arrived at her home sometime in August or September with a large number of older guns, coins and jewelry, some of which were later pawned.
Troopers connected Shellgren through a text message sent to his cell phone by Weightman in which they corresponded about coins and a gun, according to court papers. On Weightman’s phone, Shellgren’s contact information was titled, in part, as a “stash house,” authorities said.
Police seized nine guns from Shellgren’s home on Friday and said they matched the description provided by Carter, according to court papers.
Shellgren and Carter were arraigned Saturday and are free on $15,000 bail each. An arrest warrant has been issued for Weightman. None of the suspects had attorneys listed in online court records. They could not be reached.
Preliminary hearings are set for Oct. 28.
