MIDDLETOWN, Ohio — Identification of human remains discovered in a trash can in Middletown by people searching for a woman missing since June is ongoing, but police have confirmed what is believed to be a bullet hole was found in a portion of the body.
“That is what have been told by the coroner,” said Middletown Deputy Chief Earl Nelson. “We are investigating it as a homicide until we are told differently.”
The decomposed remains were found July 1 in the 1000 block of Centennial Street near Yankee Road.
On July 11, a man walking in the same area was arrested by Middletown police for having weapons under disability when two guns were found in his backpack, according to police and court records.
Nelson said the man was questioned about a missing person case. The man’s case has been sent to a Butler County grand jury for consideration.
According to a police report, the women who found the remains, “stated on (July 1), while driving through the alley, they stopped to look into a large brown Rumpke trash can, where they believed they had located what appeared to be human remains,” according to the police report.
A 911 caller told dispatchers she saw a skull among the remains.
“I think I know where my sister’s body is at,” said the caller, who said she was the sister of missing woman Asiah Slone. The caller asked to speak to the detective investigating the missing person’s case.
She and a friend were driving in the alley and saw the garbage can in the bushes.
“I thought that was kind of odd. There is a skull inside. I cannot tell if it is a real skull,” the caller said.
Martin Schneider, coroner’s office administrator, said two weeks ago, “We have had to move on to the next step in the identification process. We will be sending samples to BCI for DNA testing to identify the individual. Unfortunately, I do not have a timetable for those results to come back.”
On Tuesday, Schneider said they are still working to make a positive identification on the individual “and it is our standard policy before we make anything public we will need to notify the family first.”
He said the coroner could also not say anything at this point regarding the cause or manner of death.
