By EMILY SPARACINO / Staff Writer

The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, with the help of the United States Marshals Service and its nationwide fugitive task forces, is searching for a suspect wanted in connection with the death of 18-year-old Haleigh Danielle Green of Columbiana.

Demarcus Lamar Means, 19, of Columbiana remains at large, and Crime Stoppers is currently offering up to a $5,000 reward for information leading to Means’ arrest, according to a July 15 SCSO press release.

Means is described in the release as a “black male with shoulder-length braided hair” who is 6-foot-4 and 150 pounds.

Anyone with information on Means’ location is urged to call 911 immediately, and anyone in contact with him should consider him “armed and dangerous,” the release said.

To report information regarding the case, contact Crime Stoppers at (205) 254-7777.

Anonymous tips can be left on the SCSO Secret Witness line at (205) 669-9116.

The SCSO, with the assistance of the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office, obtained a murder warrant on July 14 for Means related to Green’s death. The bond for the charge is set at $500,000.

“My office will continue to release information as it becomes available,” Sheriff John Samaniego wrote on July 15. “I would like to thank the community and all agencies involved for their help in this case and ask for their continued support for the Green and Bivens family.”

SCSO Lt. Clay Hammac confirmed on the morning of July 15 that investigators had identified a potential suspect in the case involving Green, whose body was believed to have been found in unincorporated Shelby County on July 11 after she was reported missing on July 7.

The morning of July 15, Hammac declined to release the alleged suspect’s identity as the Sheriff’s Office waited for positive confirmation and cause of death for the victim from the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences.

“We want to make sure any information we put out has been checked or confirmed,” Hammac said.

On July 11 at 11:45 a.m., Sheriff’s Office investigators discovered a 2003 red Ford Mustang belonging to missing 18-year-old Haleigh Danielle Green near Shelby County 315 in unincorporated Shelby County.

Sheriff’s investigators were in the area of Shelby County 315 following leads in Green’s missing person case.

Investigators observed what appeared to be a red Ford Mustang in a densely, wooded area, according to the SCSO.

The SCSO then requested the assistance of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency’s Aviation Unit in searching the immediate area of the vehicle.

Within the immediate area of Green’s Mustang, SCSO investigators located a deceased body after an “extensive” search, according to Shelby County Sheriff John Samaniego.

“This afternoon, I met with Haleigh’s parents. I ask that you join me in lifting up the Green family during this difficult time,” Samaniego said in a video posted to the SCSO Facebook page on July 11. “Our investigators are working diligently until all the facts in this case are revealed.”

In a video statement released the afternoon of July 15, Samaniego said SCSO investigators “have been working around the clock following a number of leads in order to find Haleigh” since her disappearance.

Shelby County District Attorney Jill Lee commended the SCSO and assisting agencies for “their tireless effort in locating Haleigh Green, gathering evidence and identifying the accused in this case.”

“While the accused remains innocent until proven guilty, please know that the office of the district attorney will likewise work tirelessly to see that justice is done in this case,” Lee said. “I and all the members of my staff extend our condolences to both Haleigh Green’s family and to her friends.”