MIFFLIN TOWNSHIP — A 26-year-old man has died who was found “unconscious and unresponsive” Thursday night inside a Mifflin Township residence, according to the Ashland County Sheriff’s Office.
Emergency services from the Mifflin Township Fire Department, Mifflin Village Police Department and the Ashland County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched Thursday at 5:04 p.m. to 39 Maine St. after a report of an unresponsive person, according to a press release issued Friday afternoon by the sheriff’s office.
Assistance was also provided by the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District Rangers.
Once inside, first responders found Brandon Sheaffer lying on the floor “unconscious and unresponsive,” the release said.
Life-saving measures were then initiated, but Sheaffer did not survive.
Ashland County Sheriff Kurt Schneider said Friday afternoon that neighbors of the 39 Maine St. residence made the 911 call.
“Details of exactly what happened yet are still under investigation. We had BCI come in to help process the scene and collect a bunch of evidence,” Schneider said.
Investigators remained at the scene until about 4 a.m. Friday, he said.
The ACSO is continuing the investigation into the circumstances surrounding Sheaffer’s death. The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Identification, along with Mifflin police and the Ashland County Coroner’s Office, is assisting with the case.
“To date, the Ashland County Coroner’s Office has not determined the cause of death,” the release said. “Detectives are continuing to interview witnesses and examining evidence removed from the scene.”
Once a cause of death is determined, Schneider said more answers should begin to emerge, which may lead to further investigating. He said it’s too early to rule whether the circumstances leading to Sheaffer’s death involved violence.
“There’s some unusual circumstances that I really can’t talk about right now because it’s still an open criminal investigation,” the sheriff said. “But certainly I can say that it’s probably not a natural cause of death that we would normally associate with a heart attack or a stroke or something like that.
“Some unusual circumstances that are definitely worthy of more inquiry of finding out what happened and the guys are working on it really hard,” Schneider said.
According to the release, there are no immediate safety concerns for Ashland County residents.
The sheriff’s office is also asking that anyone who may have additional information which may be helpful to the investigation to contact the ACSO Detective Bureau at 419-289-8362.