ASHLAND — Officials remain mum on the investigation involving a dead body found in Ashland on Feb. 4.
As of Wednesday, here’s what we know from each agency involved:
Ohio BCI (Bureau of Criminal Investigation)
On Feb. 4, during a statement made to the media, Ashland Police Captain Craig Kiley said Ohio BCI would be “taking the lead in the investigation and helping us identifying the body found.”
In an email received Feb. 13, BCI spokesman Dominic Binkley said Ashland police requested the agency’s assistance that day but it is not leading the investigation.
“The Ashland Police Department is the lead agency,” he said.
Binkley declined to offer specifics about the case, citing an “active and ongoing” investigation.
Ashland Police
Police have yet to provide public statements into the investigation since issuing a news release on Feb. 5.
It stated officers responded to the 1000 block of East Ninth Street to investigate “the report of a dead body found there.”
The 911 call, according to records, came in at 12:27 p.m. on Feb. 4.
The caller said he had “just found a dead body.” He told the dispatcher he was on the east end of Ninth Street, near the railroad spur that used to service General Latex.
The dispatcher asked if he could tell if it was a male or female and the caller said he couldn’t tell.
“It’s bones. I’m guessing it was a guy by the shoes that were still on,” he said.
By 12:37 p.m., police had located the body, according to a computer-aided dispatch sheet obtained through a public records request.
Police cordoned off the area as detectives, investigators from the Ashland County Coroner’s Office and Ohio BCI searched the scene. Officers closed the road between Clark and Cleveland avenues until 5:24 p.m.
The police news release stated officials transported the body to the Lucas County Coroner’s Office obtain a positive identification and to perform an autopsy.
The Ohio State Coroners Association states autopsies are to be done when authorities suspect foul play, there isn’t any evidence of a natural death or there is a possibility of a court case “as the result of a homicide, accident, suicide, etc.”
Unless the autopsy goes against a parent’s religious beliefs, the procedure is required for children younger than 2 that have “no known potentially lethal disease.”
Ashland police said they are relying on dental records and DNA for an ID.
“We do not have a timeline for when that may occur, and we appreciate the public’s patience,” the release stated.
Ashland County Coroner’s Office
Jenny Taylor, an Ashland County Coroner’s Office investigator, said she has yet to hear any updates from the Lucas County Coroner’s Office.
Taylor responded to the discovery site on Feb. 4.
At the time, Taylor said investigators found bones and teeth about 100 yards into a wooded area along East Ninth Street, next to the Ohio Department of Transportation’s District 3 office.
She said she wasn’t sure if there were enough teeth to be able to obtain a positive identification. Some of them were missing out of the mouth, Taylor said.
If there aren’t enough teeth for a positive ID, investigators will depend on DNA. If that’s the case, Ohio BCI will analyze DNA at its lab in London, Ohio.
The Ashland County Board of Commissioners ended its agreement with Cuyahoga County’s coroner in November 2022 to start a new contract with Lucas County.
Taylor said she doesn’t yet have a frame of reference to know how long it takes Lucas County to process dental records for a positive ID.
“But in Cuyahoga it was a much quicker process,” Taylor said of identifying bodies.
However, she added, she’s not sure if Lucas County Coroner’s Office has an odontologist.
Odontology is the study of teeth structure and disease. Odontologists “uses their knowledge to identify people and help solve crimes,” reads one definition from the Cambridge Dictionary.
When reached, a spokeswoman at the Lucas County Coroner’s Office declined to comment.