Friday, June 04, 1999
Killing puzzles Clermont officials
Body found 5 months after man vanished
BY MARIE McCAIN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Jeffrey T. Little
|
OHIO TOWNSHIP — Authorities say they may never know when Jeffrey T. Little was killed, and as of Thursday, they had no idea why.
The body of the 22-year-old Ontario, Calif., man was found by a fishing group in the Little Indian Creek in Ohio Township near New Richmond on Monday, five months after he was last seen alive.
Rescinding a previous report that there was no foul play involved in Mr. Little's death, Clermont County Sheriff A.J. “Tim” Rodenberg said Thursday that a more thorough forensic review of the body turned up multiple stab wounds around the rib cage, along with a broken jaw and several broken bones in the chest area.
“We are awaiting further chemical analysis, but we have enough information to determine this was a homicide,” the sheriff said during a news conference inside the Clermont County sheriff's office in Batavia.
Mother raised alarm
Officials identifiedMr. Little's body based on dental records and on a clothing description provided by relatives.
Mr. Little, a manufacturing plant employee, was last seen alive Dec. 6, according to a missing-person report filed with the Goshen Township Police.
His mother, Sharon, called authorities from California on Dec. 15 after her son failed to return home.
Police said she had wired her son about $1,300 during the early part of December to pay for his return trip.
Authorities were uncertain exactly when Mr. Little arrived in Ohio, but said he had come to the Clermont County area to visit his child and estranged wife, who were living in Loveland.
Mr. Little was staying with various friends.
Sometime before picking up the money his mother sent him, Mr. Little's car was impounded in Monroe, Sheriff Rodenberg said.
He said Mr. Little may have intended to use the money to get his car out of impound or to buy a plane ticket since his car “wasn't that good.”
Last days muddled
A few days after picking the money up from a local Western Union outlet, Mr. Little told his wife he was going to visit friends in New Richmond and was not heard from again.
Investigators were uncertain how Mr. Little was getting around without his car. They said he may have traveled as far as Middletown and the Hamilton area.
Whether robbery was a motive is unknown. Police do know that Mr. Little was dead when his body was dumped in the creek, but exactly when he died may never be determined.
“Much of the evidence was dissipated. ... He could have been killed in December, January or February,” the sheriff said, adding that there was no identification or cash found on the body, which was fully clothed.
The badly decomposed body was dragged to the surface after being snagged by a fishing line.
The area where the body was found is a popular fishing hole but is not a place most people would know about otherwise, police said.
Investigators are canvassing the area to determine whether anyone saw Mr. Little or heard anything unusual.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Clermont County sheriff's office at 732-7500.
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