N. Texas Murder Investigation & Forged Deed Probe Intersect? Human Remains Found In Concrete Buried In Home's Side Yard; Missing Homeowner Hasn't Been Seen In Months; Dubious Deed Recently Used To Convey Home Title; Notary Can't Recall Meeting Homeowner, Then Decides To Clam Up As Questions Arise Around Her Notary Ledger Records

Editorial Writer Tod Robberson posts on The Dallas Morning News Opinion Blog:

• As Ricky Ricardo used to say, Lucy, you got some ‘splainin to do. Dallas police have opened a homicide investigation after human remains were found in concrete in the side yard of a north Oak Cliff house last month. It’s not yet confirmed that the remains were those of the house’s owner, who was last seen in late April.
  
  Former owner, that is. His name is Ronald Shumway, and he is missing. Even though he hadn’t been seen in months, his signature appears on a deed for the June 22 sale of his house. Police told NBC5 that Shumway’s notarized signature on the deed document appears to have been forged. (We’ve been through something similar to this before with southern Dallas properties, where large numbers of house deeds were transferred without the actual owner’s knowledge or consent. Which is why I sit up and take notice on stories like this.)
  
  The notary in this case, who works in North Dallas, is required by law to keep a ledger of the signatures she certifies and the form of identification used by the signor. People who live in Oak Cliff don’t typically travel all the way to North Dallas to get their documents notarized.
  
  Failure to keep a ledger is a punishable offense. The ledger will be key in helping police determine who signed Shumway’s name to the deed. The notary told NBC5 that she couldn’t recall meeting Shumway. Now she’s not commenting. Her ledger records, however, are supposed to be public information, and any member of the public is allowed to view her ledger, according to state law. Notaries are official agents of the state.
  
  What happened after his house was sold? That’s a part of the story that gets really interesting. A visit to the Dallas County public records site, ROAM Dallas, indicates that the forged deed document set in motion a rapid chain of exchanges — all of which occurred, apparently, while bones were solidifying in concrete in the house’s side yard.
  
  1) A warranty deed dated June 22 but filed June 25 lists Sean Chien, a Plano real estate agent, as the deed recipient for the house at 725 N. Winnetka in Oak Cliff.
  
  2) On June 25, Chien signed over the property to Alpha 8 Investment Properties in Plano. Alpha 8′s address, PO Box 866802 in Plano, happens to be the exact same address listed for Chien himself. (I called Chien’s office, but the person who answered the phone said Chien wasn’t available.) Other Alpha 8 property documents identify Ivy Lee Chien as a representative of the company.
  
  3) On July 10, someone went to City Hall and paid off a $56,250 lien that the City of Dallas had placed on Shumway’s property, dating back to 2002. The lien was for a private construction company to carry out work on behalf of the Dallas Housing Department. Who paid off the lien? The document doesn’t say.
  
  4) Three days later, on July 13, Alpha 8 signed over the property to Donna Savariego Homes, a Dallas company.
  
  5) On Aug. 10, Donna Savariego Homes signed over the property to True Option Realty, a company based in Allen. No transfers have occurred since then.
  
  The Oak Cliff Advocate has some additional details regarding Shumway’s background, none of which I’ve been able to confirm.
  
  The Dallas Central Appraisal District lists the house as having a total market value of $159,020. If someone managed to secure it by paying off the $56,250 lien, that would represent a pretty tidy profit of more than $100,000. Bones notwithstanding.

Source: Body found in yard, owner is missing, and yet his house is sold with a forged deed. Hmmm.

See also, Dallas Police Investigate Homicide After Remains Found at Oak Cliff House:

• Police sources reveal to NBC 5 that someone forged homeowner Robert Shumway's signature in late June on a legal document authorizing the sale of his house in the 700 block of North Winnetka Avenue.
  
  NBC 5 has been following this story since late September, when the new homeowner made a gruesome discovery in the backyard. The new homeowner, who had only recently purchased the property, was doing renovation work in the backyard in an effort to flip the property, when he uncovered the remains.