05-03-2025
Man's remains had been in Delhi Township woods for months; coroner asks for help to ID him
The skeletal remains found by passersby over the weekend in a wooded section of Delhi Township belong to a man whose body had likely been in that area since last fall, officials said.
Investigators do not believe foul play contributed to the man's death, as there was no evidence of bullet wounds or blunt force trauma, Hamilton County Coroner Dr. Lakshmi Sammarco said during a press conference on Wednesday.
Sammarco said the coroner's office is asking for the public's help in identifying the man and reaching his family because investigators' efforts to discern his identity have so far proved unsuccessful.
She described him as a middle-aged Black man, roughly 6 feet tall with an extra large shirt and size 13 shoes. It remains unclear why the man was in the woods, whether he was homeless or even if he lived in Delhi Township.
The remains were first discovered near the 6800 block of Hillside Avenue on Saturday when people collecting deer antlers in the woods stumbled upon what appeared to be human bones, officials said.
Officers located additional remains when they returned to the area on Sunday with Cincinnati Search and Recovery and EquuSearch Midwest, a volunteer-based search and recovery organization.
While the remains were recovered during the span of two days, officials say they belong to just one person.
Due to the man's size and the difficulty of the terrain where he was found, officials said they do not think he was placed there, but rather walked into the woods himself.
Delhi Township police Lt. Joe Macaluso said officers did not find any campsites or evidence to suggest that someone had been living in the woods. There were also no abandoned vehicles found in the area, Sammarco added.
The department has not received any missing persons reports that match the man's description, officials said, adding they will likely have to broaden the search to other jurisdictions, especially since the remains were found near the township's border with Cincinnati.
"Somebody in the area must know something," Sammarco said.
She added the coroner's office is awaiting the results of a final forensic anthropology report, which is expected to take a few weeks.
Anyone with information regarding the death investigation is urged to contact the Delhi Township Police Department at 513-922-0062 or the Hamilton County Coroner's Office at 513-946-8700.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Coroner seeks help to ID remains of man found in Delhi Twp. woods
