Two individuals have been taken into custody in connection with a grim discovery made in Fairfield County over the weekend. According to the Lancaster Police Department's Facebook post via WBNS, officers responded to a call for a well-being check on the 700 block of South Maple Street, close to East Main Street, where they subsequently found the body of a man in a nearby wooded area.
Later updates on Saturday from the police identified the suspects as 44-year-old John T. Scott of Laurelville and 45-year-old Holly McDaniel of Columbus, with Scott being charged with murder and McDaniel facing charges for abuse of a corpse. Both are being held in the Fairfield County Jail, and it is expected that their charges will be brought before a Fairfield County grand jury.
The identity and cause of death of the deceased male are still under investigation. Authorities from the Fairfield County Coroner’s Office, the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, and Lancaster police are working jointly on the case, as reported by NBC4i. The victim's name has not yet been released, pending notification of next of kin.
ABC6 advised residents in the area to stay clear of the scene and allow law enforcement to conduct their investigation uninterrupted. The discovery of the body and the ensuing arrests have raised concerns in the South Lancaster community, prompting a thorough probe into the circumstances surrounding the death.
