More burglary charges filed against family members

Additional charges were filed Friday against three family members accused of ransacking a Cape Girardeau County home.

Dana L. Sheldrake, her husband, Stephen D. Sheldrake II, and his uncle, William D. Porter, were charged in July with one count each of felony burglary.

On Friday, Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle dropped the original charge and refiled charges of felony burglary and three counts of felony stealing against the trio.

They are accused of stealing vehicles, antiques, electronics, jewelry and guns from a home on Route W near Fruitland.

Officers responded to the home around 2 p.m. July 10 to a call of trespassers and suspicious activity, a probable-cause statement said.

All three defendants were at the scene, and Dana Sheldrake, 28, of 2920 Perryville Road, claimed they had permission to use a Ford Ranger on the property, according to the statement. The vehicle was loaded with tools, antiques and car parts.

The trio did not have permission from the home owner, who was away from the property at the time of the thefts and did not know the suspects.

Dana and Stephen Sheldrake, 24, both admitted to using the vehicle to haul stolen items back to their home, according to the statment.

Between July 1 and July 10, the statement read, the three stole from the property 11 vehicles worth $40,200 and $7,000 in other goods.

Some of the stolen items were sold at a Cape Girardeau pawnshop, and Porter, 43, was accused of trading one of the stolen vehicles for cocaine, according to the statement.

Dana Sheldrake was being held in lieu of a $30,000 bond, and Stephen Sheldrake and Porter were being held in lieu of a $50,000 bond.

kmorrison@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 127