Woman's body found off Trego Creek Road

CHILLICOTHE – A body of an unidentified adult female was found just off Trego Creek Road on Friday, and county deputies are investigating the incident as a homicide.

Lt. Mike Preston, of the Ross County Sheriff's Office, confirmed that the body was found just before 11 a.m. Friday, but he did not say what gender the body was or whether it was any of the three remaining missing women who have disappeared in the county in the past year.

The body was found in a patch of weeds along a guardrail near the former Dairy Bar, now vacant, at 3216 Trego Creek Road.

Preston said he could not reveal the clothing or any other identifying information about the body or the state it was found in.

Charles Snow, a man who lives in the area and saw the body after he heard someone scream that they found it, said the body was of a female who appeared to be in her teens.

Sheriff's deputies weren't immediately available to discuss the case.

One woman, who wished not to be identified, told Gazette partner 10TV that she discovered the body.

"She was laying down face first on the ground," the woman told 10TV reporter Glenn McEntyre. "And her arms were underneath of her."

The woman said she was passing by when she saw a pair of sandals. When she exited her vehicle, she saw blood and a woman's body.

"I'm not sure what happened to this young lady, but I know that somebody hurt her," the woman said.

Investigators searched the area thoroughly, and a van from Haller Funeral Home came to take the body away. The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the Ross County Coroner's Office and other law enforcement officials were at the scene Friday. A significant presence of sheriff's vehicles and other law enforcement officials were visible at the site, which is just off the highway.

A portion of Trego Creek Road, between U.S. 23 and Massieville Road, was blocked off while investigators worked.

The discovery of the body fueled speculation on the identity, as social media chatter quickly began to discuss whether it might be any of the missing women.

Last week, city and county officials had searched the Scioto River from Bridge Street to Three Locks Road looking for clues in the disappearance of Tiffany Sayre, who was last seen May 11.

Sayre's grandmother, Rosemary Elder, went to the scene.

"If it was Tiffany, there's no reason she would be down here. Everyone knows she walked everywhere," she said. "We just feel like we're in limbo right now."