By Janice Morse
The Cincinnati Enquirer

MONROE - Police are asking for the public's help to find clues to the shooting death of a veteran vendor at the popular Trader's World flea market.

It's this city's police department's first homicide case in nearly three years. A police officer early Monday found William E. Doolittle, 41, of Findlay, dead in the back of his van in the parking lot of the Stony Ridge Inn, 1250 Hamilton-Lebanon Road, just off Interstate 75.

The officer who found Doolittle around 2:35 a.m. had been searching for him after he was reported missing Sunday at 5 p.m., when the flea market closed for the day. Police said it was possible the crime was committed elsewhere.

Witnesses told police they had last seen Doolittle around 11:40 a.m. Sunday, when he said he was leaving to meet a man and buy a piece of equipment for his business. A teenage son remained behind at his vending stand, police said.

Doolittle dealt in tools and appliances at Trader's World, which has 1,200 vendor spaces and is open Saturdays and Sundays. He had sold there for more than a decade.

Police are asking anyone who finds spent ammunition casings or blood in the area of Monroe and Interstate 75 to call police at (513) 539-9234 or Crime Stoppers at (513) 352-3040.Police also asked to hear from any witnesses who might have seen Doolittle's gray GMC van being driven around Sunday.

"It's been unusual for us to investigate a murder," Monroe Sgt. Brian Curlis said.

Monroe police last investigated a homicide in April 2001, when Shawny Spence, 26, was found dead and partially dismembered in her Lemon Township home. Her husband, Ronald A. Spence Jr., was later convicted.

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E-mail jmorse@enquirer.com