Latest news with #OhioAttorneyGeneral'sOffice
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Ohio Missing Persons Working Group makes 18 recommendations to better investigate cases
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine gives the State of the State address in the Ohio House chambers at the Ohio Statehouse on Wednesday, March 12, 2025 in Columbus, Ohio. (Pool photo by Samantha Madar, Columbus Dispatch.) The Ohio Missing Persons Working Group has made 18 recommendations to lawmakers, the Ohio Attorney General's Office, and various statewide agencies to better investigate missing persons cases. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine created the 24-member working group in January after The Columbus Dispatch published a series last year about how police handle missing persons cases. The group met six times and DeWine announced the recommendations Tuesday. 'We believe, from the bottom of our heart, (the recommendations) will improve the way the state of Ohio handles reports when somebody goes missing,' said Ohio Department of Public Safety Director Andy Wilson. There were 21,342 missing Ohioans in 2024 — including 16,404 missing children, according to the Ohio Attorney General's Office. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX One of the recommendations is that lawmakers would allow law enforcement to get a search warrant to help find someone who is missing. In order to currently get a search warrant, law enforcement has to allege that a criminal act has occurred and have probable cause. 'We know for law enforcement that as much information they can get early on in an investigation will certainly help, a lot of times, bring the outcome to a speedy resolution,' Wilson said. 'One of the tools that law enforcement officers use to gather that information is a search warrant for records pertaining to phone records or internet records or social media records.' The working group is also asking lawmakers to increase penalties for crimes of interference with custody, which is currently a fifth-degree felony. 'A lot of times, missing children go missing because of a family member or a parent who doesn't have legal custody of the child, takes that child in violation of custody orders, and sometimes takes that child out of state,' Wilson said. In some situations, the missing child is taken out of the country, he said. 'In those situations, once you remove the child from the state, it becomes very difficult to get that child back, especially if you're only dealing with a lower level felony offense,' Wilson said. 'If you take the child out of the country, it should be enhanced even further, because then it becomes very difficult for law enforcement to get that child back. We believe that not only would that have a deterrent effect on people taking their kids and running, but it would adequately address the system from a justice point of view.' Some of the most tragic cases DeWine has seen were custody cases where the child was taken out of the country. 'It is extremely difficult for anybody to do anything about that once that child is outside the custody of the United States,' he said. 'And so anything we can do to increase that penalty, try to make that more of a deterrent, is certainly something that we should do.' State Reps. Christine Cockley, D-Columbus, and Kevin Ritter, R-Marietta, introduced a bill that would require law enforcement agencies to enter a missing person's information in the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System. 'We believe from the bottom of our heart that (the) bill is probably a good vehicle for us to maybe amend or add some of the recommendations from this working group,' Wilson said. Andy Chapman went missing in 2006 and his family has been working to bring him home ever since. 'Nineteen years we have held out hope that Andy would come home, 19 years of worry, heartbreak, anger, sadness, and unimaginable grief,' his sister Aimee Chapman said. Andy went missing when he was 32 years old, a few years after his life 'was turned upside down' by addiction after getting in a car accident, his sister said. He was last seen in Columbus. Aimee said her brother's case has been closed and reopened by several detectives over the years. 'Throughout all this time, we have continued to advocate on behalf of Andy and our family and other families of missing persons,' she said. 'Families are the key to that individual's habits, friends and records. … Knowing these cases are not forgotten about is so important to us.' The Ohio General Assembly should codify criteria for Ohio's Endangered Missing Child Alert. The Ohio State Highway Patrol should work with the Attorney General's Bureau of Criminal Investigation to create an automatic process to notify necessary law enforcement agencies of Endangered Missing Child Alerts. The U.S. Department of Justice should expedite work to connect National Crime Information Center to the NamUs database as required by the federal Help Find the Missing Act, otherwise known as Billy's Law. The Ohio General Assembly should create legislation authorizing law enforcement and county prosecutors to seek search warrants to gather information and records that may help them locate a high-risk missing person. The Ohio General Assembly should create legislation to increase the criminal penalty for suspects who interfere with custody by removing a child or children out of the state or to a foreign nation The Ohio General Assembly should mandate that interference with custody arrest warrants be entered into LEADS and NCIC with a nationwide pickup radius. The Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services should expand its Ohio Prisoner Extradition Reimbursement Program to allow grant funding to be used to pay law enforcement for costs associated with returning interference with custody suspects to Ohio. The Ohio General Assembly should create legislation requiring local law enforcement agencies to digitize unresolved missing persons reports prior to the destruction of paper files. BCI should also create a digital repository to store missing persons' case records from local law enforcement agencies. The Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy within the Ohio Attorney General's Office should develop advanced training for new missing persons investigators and law enforcement dispatchers. The Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services and the Ohio Department of Health should develop a model policy outlining information healthcare providers are legally permitted to share with law enforcement officers investigating missing persons cases. The Ohio Attorney General's Office should maintain a central repository of resources for law enforcement and families of missing persons. The Ohio Attorney General's Office and Ohio Department of Public Safety should partner to create educational resources outlining how and when to file a missing persons report. BCI should establish an annual conference for law enforcement and families with missing loved ones to collaborate, share best practices, and raise awareness about missing persons cases in Ohio. BCI should establish a confidential forum for law enforcement and intelligence analysts conducting missing persons investigations to discuss techniques, establish cross-jurisdiction collaboration, and perform case reviews. The Ohio Collaborative Community-Police Advisory Board should review and revise its missing persons law enforcement standard and model policy in accordance with this working group's recommendations. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Refugee Resettlement should implement a process to notify state refugee coordinators within the Ohio Department of Job & Family Services when an unaccompanied minor is placed in Ohio. The Ohio School Safety Center and Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles should work together to increase awareness of the ID R Kids youth identification card program. The Ohio Department of Children and Youth, Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, and Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services should work with local law enforcement to develop a pilot program that utilizes advocates to support at-risk youth who regularly leave their homes or group home settings. Follow Capital Journal Reporter Megan Henry on Bluesky. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Coroner to discuss developments in case of woman found buried with a rose in 2018
Saturday will mark seven years since a woman was found buried in a shallow grave in North Avondale. She was wrapped in a sheet and had a long-stemmed rose on her chest. Hamilton County Coroner Lakshmi Sammarco and her team have made multiple pleas to the public in an attempt to identify her with little progress. However, Sammarco announced she will be discussing developments in the case during a May 27 press conference. Back in 2018, children spotted a portion of her body exposed in the 400 block of Glenwood Avenue at Alston Park apartments. The coroner said she had been buried for some time and her body was decomposing. She was found wearing a tank top, a Smoky Mountain Moonshine T-shirt and a sweater along with loose pants when she was found. Earrings and black rope bracelets were found on her body. Though the cause of death was not determined, Sammarco never suspected foul play. "They didn't have to bury her. They didn't have to leave a rose behind. Clearly, it was someone who cared about her," Sammarco said. Investigators recovered DNA, determined she had cocaine and morphine in her system and reconstructed what she may have looked like using a 3D scan of her skull. This gave investigators a face, even though they still lacked a name. In 2023, new digital facial reconstruction images were released with the help of the Ohio Attorney General's Office and the Ohio State University. Sammarco will hold a press conference at 1 p.m. The Enquirer will update this story. This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Coroner to discuss developments in case of woman buried with a rose
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Yahoo
Prosecutors: Investigation into fatal shooting of Jazmir Tucker enters legal review
Mahoning County prosecutors are now reviewing the fatal police shooting of 15-year-old Jazmir Tucker after the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation completed its investigation on March 25. Akron and Summit County prosecutors' offices announced the update on May 23 in a news release issued nearly six months after Akron police officer Davon Fields shot and killed Jazmir outside Miller South School on Thanksgiving. Although BCI completed its investigation, prosecutors explained that the inquiry will not be publicly available until any potential legal proceedings have concluded. The Summit County Prosecutor's Office adopted a policy in 2020 to refer police shootings to the Ohio Attorney General's Office "to ensure fairness and to avoid the appearance of any potential conflicts of interest between local prosecutors and law enforcement officers who often work together," the news release read. The Attorney General's Office can then send the case to another county prosecutor's office for review. Fields and another officer heard gunfire near Miller South School for Visual and Performing Arts after 11 p.m. on Nov. 28, 2024. When they investigated, they spotted Jazmir and ran after him, according to body camera footage. Fields fatally shot Jazmir twice in the back and once in the arm with his rifle. Akron police officers waited roughly 10 minutes before providing medical aid to Jazmir, who was unresponsive. When they searched him, they found a firearm in his zipped-up coat pocket. Officers said shell casings found at the scene matched Jazmir's gun. Jazmir was taken to a local hospital, where he later died from his wounds. Fields was placed on paid administrative leave immediately after the shooting, in line with department policy. The investigation was turned over to BCI, which completed its inquiry on March 25. From there, the Ohio Attorney General's Office turned the case over to the Mahoning County Prosecutor's Office for legal review. Bryce Buyakie covers courts and public safety for the Beacon Journal. He can be reached by email at bbuyakie@ or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @bryce_buyakie. This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Investigation into fatal shooting of Jazmir Tucker enters legal review
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Kroger lost my trust and my business by repeatedly overcharging me
Regarding "Investigation finds Kroger overcharging on sale items" (May 14): I was a Kroger customer for many years. Not anymore. Aside from the higher prices, I noticed that almost every time I checked out, there was an error. Sometimes nickels and dimes, sometimes a dollar or more per item. I was at the point where I was going to write to the Ohio Attorney General's Office with a consumer protection complaint. Kroger did correct the error if you brought it to their attention, but how many people walked out not knowing? After a while, I did not believe that it was poor management. I believed it was intentional. A couple of bucks per customer and millions of customers, you are talking real money. When they mischarge you it is theft, not an error. I am glad to see other people have caught on. Peter Ulbrich, Union Township More: How to use Kroger's 'Make it Right' policy if you're overcharged for sale items Regarding the article about Kroger doesn't always ring up the sale price: I've been a victim of being overcharged. I've learned to check my receipt before leaving the store and to have price adjustments made before leaving. But many employees who could fix the problem are walking around the store aimlessly. I've found that since the COVID-19 pandemic, customer service employees in retail have become lazy and just want to collect a paycheck for doing nothing. Dayna Nelson, West Chester Township This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Kroger overcharged me for groceries one too many times | Letters
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Yahoo
Women forced into prostitution at local massage parlors: AG
WARREN, Ohio (WJW) – Eight people face charges in a local human trafficking raid. According to a press release from the Ohio Attorney General's Office, women were forced into prostitution at two massage parlors on West Market Street in Warren. Local store sells $150,000 scratch-off winner An 83-count indictment maintains that the defendants operated Tiger Spa and Sunny Spa as illegal fronts for sex trafficking and money laundering. 'The crime ring allegedly trapped Korean women at the establishments for three months at a time, forcing them to live on the premises 24/7 and perform sex acts for money,' according to the press release. The Tiger Spa is no longer in business. Bread sold at all Ohio Giant Eagles could contain glass fragments: Recall The eight people facing charges are: Tae Suk Hwang, aka 'Jeannie,' 62, of Saginaw, Michigan: One count of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity (F1) One count of trafficking in persons – commercial sex acts (F1) 58 counts of money laundering (F3) 14 counts of promoting prostitution (F4) Dong Meliodon, aka 'Sara,' 62, of Duluth, Georgia: One count of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity (F1) 34 counts of money laundering (F3) Six counts of promoting prostitution (F4) Suk Hui Starr, 64, of Fort Worth, Texas: One count of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity (F1) 12 counts of money laundering (F3) Two counts of promoting prostitution (F4) Miock Dong Schaffer, aka 'Cookie,' 56, of Norwalk, Ohio: One count of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity (F1) Nine counts of money laundering (F3) One count of promoting prostitution (F4) Chang Mi Hwang, aka 'Cherry,' 59, of Duluth, Georgia: One count of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity (F1) Three counts of promoting prostitution (F4) Young Hee Yoon, 56, of Warren, Ohio: Two counts of promoting prostitution (F4) Kum Cha Shugars, 75, of Dallas: One count of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity (F1) One count of promoting prostitution (F4) Young Sug Kim, aka 'Young Crazy,' 61, of New Waterford, Ohio: One count of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity (F1) The charges all stem from an ongoing investigation by the Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force. To report suspected human trafficking in Ohio: Call (844) END-OHHT Text 'ENDOHHT' to 847411 Download the END OHHT app on Apple or Android devices Submit information online at gov/ENDOHHT. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
