CLEVELAND — Federal authorities on Thursday arrested a cam model who performed on several platforms under the name Selena Savage, charging her with the early March 2021 execution-style murder of a man found in the woods near the Terra Vista Natural Study Area in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio.
Although murder is generally handled by state authorities, Savage was charged (under her legal name) and arrested in Pensacola, Florida by the FBI because the death took place in a national park under federal jurisdiction.
The federal authorities also unsealed Thursday details of the murder investigation filed in U.S. District Court in Cleveland. A defense attorney was not listed in court records.
A Body in the Woods
The body of 31-year-old Cleveland resident Matthew John Dunmire was found on March 9 (another report says March 7) in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s office determined that the cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head.
News of Dunmire’s death were made public on March 13 via Cleveland press, which reported that the homicide was being investigated by the Valley View Police Department, Cleveland FBI and National Park Service Investigative Branch.
Friends of the victim last saw him on Friday, March 5.
A friend told the Cleveland 19 News TV station at the time that Dunmire “just went missing. He was supposed to hang out with some people and the last words I heard from him were ‘I’ll see you Monday,’ and I didn’t see him Monday.”
A Dark-Haired Woman in Knee-High Boots
The unsealed FBI investigation released last Thursday provides the prosecution’s version of the events they said led to Dunmire’s death.
An FBI affidavit says Savage’s DNA was found on Dunmire and a water bottle near his body.
The affidavit states that Dunmire was out with friends at a bar on March 5, and he had told them that he was supposed to meet an out-of-town girl who was visiting for the weekend.
Another news report says Dunmire was met by the dark-haired woman, allegedly positively IDd by a witness as Savage, at the Tiki Underground restaurant and lounge just south of Route 303 on the Hudson border. According to that report, Dunmire worked there.
The prosecution alleges Dunmire and a work friend left the bar and his friend saw him meet a dark-haired woman driving a white (or silver) Smart Car.
Through surveillance video, the investigators secured the license plate of the Smart Car, which was traced to Savage’s military husband in Arlignton, Virginia.
Further video surveillance place Dunmire and Savage together, with the cam model — known for an alt-model and goth persona — wearing black clothes and knee-high boots.
A Gunshot by a Cemetery
The prosecution alleges that on the night of March 5, the two drove to a Cleveland Airbnb which had been reserved by Savage on the same day.
According to the affidavit, Dunmire and Savage knew each other — possibly online, although one news report lists Dunmire as being originally from Smithfield Virginia — and had arranged to meet previously.
On March 6, Dunmire texted his wife that he was panning to donate plasma and then return to his apartment. At 10:29 a.m., Dunmire sent another text saying, “OK. I’ll see you in a little while,” the affidavit says. Other texts suggest the wife knew Dunmire was meeting and spending the night with a woman, but he also insisted that they had not had sex.
The same day, according to testimony by a hiking couple given to the FBI investigators, they encountered a woman wearing black and knee-high boots who claimed to be lost in the woods. The hikers told the FBI that the woman “appeared confused” and “expressed no emotion.”
Another hiking couple reported hearing a gunshot between 11:30 a.m. and 11:50 a.m. The same couple told the feds that they noticed a white Smart Car parked nearby.
One news report identifies this area within the National Park as housing “a cemetery.” Consistent with her gothic persona, Savage did sell at least one video on her premium fan site shot at a graveyard.
At some point on March 6, authorities claim Savage left Cleveland and drove to the Detroit area for a tattoo appointment.
An Unusual 9-Month Delay
One of the enigmas in the case is when the Federal agents started conducting their investigation of Savage, for how long, and why they decided to charge her a full nine months after the death of Dunmire.
The affidavit mentions that Savage’s Virginia home was raided on March 30 and three pistols were found. According to the feds, the ballistics report determined that the markings on the fatal bullet collected by the coroner from Dunmire’s body “had similar characteristics” as those fired from two of the seized pistols.
Savage moved from Virginia to Florida sometime in the past nine months, and camming acquaintances told XBIZ she had been “traveling a lot recently,” spending time in New Orleans, Los Angeles and other locations.
Selena Savage had a consistent presence on social media before and after March 5-6. Her Twitter showing her in the last few weeks at an Exxxotica convention, with a last tweet posted only immediately before her Thursday arrest.
A Mysterious ‘Content Trip’
Of note to the investigation are two tweets from the two days that the FBI alleges bookend Dunmire’s killing.
On March 5, Savage tweeted: “I’m using these last [two] free weekends before [breast augmentation] surgery to go on content trips. Nothing major, just shooting in a random place away from home. I’m sure everyone’s sick of me camming from [and] filming on my couch. [laughing crying emoji].”
The same day, she posted on Facebook that she was in Cleveland.
Then, on March 6, Savage tweeted “I’m so excited to see @MalloryManeater today and get tattooed!”
Savage is currently being held in the Santa Rosa County Jail in Florida without bond.
