Body of Jacksonville Woman Missing Found

SAN AUGUSTINE � The body of an East Texas woman who has been missing since July, 2006, has been found. Shunte Coleman, of Jacksonville, was last heard from by her grandmother on July 2, 2006. The San Augustine County Sheriff’s Office tells KETK a forester uncovered human skeletal remains in March 2014 near the intersection of Farm to Market Road 1196 and County Road 347. A Sam Houston State University forensic anthropologist examined the remains prior to sending them off to The University of North Texas Center for Human Identification, where DNA extracted from the remains was entered into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS). The remains were then determined to be those of Coleman.

Jacksonville police said Coleman has a connection to former Jacksonville Police Officer Larry Pugh. This was the second woman who was somehow connected to Pugh who had mysteriously disappeared. The other female was Terri Reyes. At this time, there’s no definitive word on exactly how Coleman was connected to Pugh. But in 2007, Pugh was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison on charges of civil rights violations and retaliating against a witness.

Pugh admitted that on two occasions in 2005, while serving as a Jacksonville police officer, he violated the civil rights of two women by forcing them to have sex with him while he was on duty and in uniform. Pugh also admitted that he retaliated against one of the women for providing information to law enforcement officials. The investigation into Coleman�s death is being continued by the San Augustine County Sheriff�s Office, the Texas Rangers and the FBI. Coleman was 26 at the time she vanished.