Authorities say human bone fragments found during the search for a missing woman in southern Ohio have led to a man’s arrest.
The Columbus Dispatch reports the Pike County Sheriff’s Office says 24-year-old Brandon Friend, of Peebles, is charged with corpse abuse and tampering with evidence in connection with the fragments found last week in a burn pile.
Deputies say they can’t determine yet whether the bones are those of 77-year-old Bernice Hayslip, who hasn’t been seen since August 2016.
Authorities say Hayslip’s daughter, Tracy Sowards, is a person of interest in the disappearance. The 44-year-old Peebles woman is charged with misuse of a credit card and receiving stolen property.
The Pike County Sheriff’s Office began their search for the retired Adams County school bus driver after getting a tip from authorities after a traffic stop in Highland County, WSYX reported earlier.
“The suspect began talking about a possible missing person, and that’s when we got involved,” said Deputy William Stansbury of the Pike County Sheriff’s Office, according to the station.
Stansbury said cadaver dogs detected something on a Property along Lapperell Road. He said the property is owned by a person of interest in the Hayslip’s case.
Repeated attempts to reach an attorney who represented Friend and Sowards in Pike County Court were unsuccessful.