ASHLAND — Ashland Police and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation are investigating two dead bodies found in a Covert Court home after a female escaped her abductor and called 911 Tuesday morning. A third body in Richland County has been linked to the case.
Late Tuesday evening, Shawn Michael Grate was booked in Ashland County Jail on kidnapping charges in relation to the incident.
Richland County Prosecutor Bambi Couch Page confirmed that a body found in the woods near a burned home on Park Avenue East in Madison Township is related to the Ashland case.
Page said the suspect, who she referred to as a transient, led authorities to the body after being taken into custody.
According to Ashland Police Chief David Marcelli, the remains at Covert Court in Ashland were found after police arrested Grate at the residence.
County Coroner Dale Thomae said it will take time to identify the two bodies and did not know the sex of the victims.
“Once I am able to get in there, we will have more information. We will have more information for the press then but obviously, family will be notified first. We will use whatever means are necessary to identify the bodies. Obviously, that could take more than just minutes or hours,” Thomae said.
Authorities had cordoned off two homes on Covert Court owned by Pump House Ministries and also the parking lot behind those homes and Fourth Street Laundromat was closed. Investigators in white protective suits were seen removing evidence from the homes throughout the afternoon and evening.
Marcelli said he called the press conference to emphasize this case was not related the Amber Alert case from Brunswick. Fifteen-year-old Brunswick resident Robin Roberts was located safely Tuesday in the Macedonia area after being abducted Monday night by her biological father.
Although police are not identifying the victims, family members of two missing women were at the crime scene and in the brief press conference. Family members pressed Chief Marcelli for answers during the press conference but he refused to answer any questions.
One of the missing women, Greenwich resident Stacey Stanley, 43, was last seen Thursday. Her son Kurt Stanley said Tuesday the police didn’t take his mother’s disappearance serious enough because she was an adult and had been a drug addict.
“They do more with younger kids with the Amber Alerts. Why don’t they do that with adults, too? Adults matter just as much as the child does. They all grow up. And now my mom won’t get to see me grow up, or my daughter,” Kurt Stanley said.
Stacey Stanley’s car broke down on Thursday at the BP at the corner of Main and Union streets. According to Kurt Stanley, they found his mom’s car on Ninth Street on Sunday and towed it. Stanley’s friends and family members had canvassed the neighborhood Monday looking for Stacey, putting up flyers and searching for any sign of his mother.
Family members of Elizabeth Griffith were also on-hand. Griffith was last seen on Aug. 16 near WalMart and Aldi’s.
Around 9:30 pm., the last of the BCI, police and fire personnel left the crime scene. Shortly before 10 p.m., family and friends gathered at the crime scene gathered for prayer.
