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Background: The Cooper County Emergency Management Office in Booneville, Mo. (Google Maps). Inset: Sam Shetler (Cooper County Sheriff’s Office).
A Missouri man renowned as a healer within the Amish community now faces charges of involuntary manslaughter.
Sam Shetler, aged 42, was apprehended in March on multiple charges including sex trafficking and kidnapping. During the course of this investigation, authorities linked Shetler to the death of a 6-month-old infant, who was discovered unresponsive by his parents in March 2025. The baby, sadly, passed away, and his parents revealed to investigators that they had sought Shetler’s services, believing him to be a “holistic doctor” within the Amish enclave of Booneville, Missouri.
The probable cause affidavit, examined by Law&Crime, disclosed that Shetler operated the Mercy and Truth Retreat. This establishment was already under scrutiny by the Cooper County Sheriff’s Office following allegations of Shetler sexually abusing multiple teenage girls and young women. The parents, concerned about their son turning blue, brought him to Shetler, who purportedly administered a “lavender breathing treatment” on March 6, 2025, before sending the infant home.
Tragically, the parents discovered their child unresponsive and discolored when attempting to wake him from a nap. Unable to locate Shetler, they sought assistance from a non-Amish neighbor to contact 911. Emergency responders arrived, only to find the infant had already passed away.
The autopsy results revealed that the baby had been suffering from several viral infections, including RSV and COVID-19, at the time of his death. The official cause of death was recorded as “pneumonia complicating polyviral respiratory infection.”
One year later, while authorities were investigating the sex crime charges, detectives spoke to someone who worked for the Mercy and Truth Retreat under Shetler’s direction. The employee told detectives that the Amish community viewed Shetler as an “actual” doctor or “healer” who led the community to believe that “English,” or non-Amish, medical doctors “do not know what they are doing.”
When it came to treating the alleged victim, the employee told detectives that Shetler instructed the staff to treat the baby’s breathing issues with an oil diffuser. The employee said Shetler allegedly neglected to check on the baby, something he reportedly promised the boy’s parents he would do, because he was “too busy with the girls and the horses.” Police said the staff noticed the baby’s condition was “declining.”
According to the medical examiner, the baby may have been saved if he had received traditional medical treatment.
Shetler was charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection with the baby’s death. He also faces three counts of sex trafficking, four counts of kidnapping, and one count each of sodomy and sexual abuse. He is being held at the Cooper County Jail without bond. His next court date is scheduled for May 13.