Human remains were discovered around 11:30 a.m. Monday in a heavily wooded area northeast of Celina, Ohio, in a search tied to a 65-year-old man who vanished more than two weeks earlier from a nearby faith-based shelter. Personal effects found nearby were consistent with items Timothy Anderson was reported to have been wearing or carrying, according to the Mercer County Sheriff's Office.
Anderson was reported missing on August 10, more than a week after he was last seen in person on August 4, according to the sheriff's office. As reported by Your Hometown Stations, the Mercer County Sheriff's Office is now investigating the discovery of the remains, and Mercer County Coroner Alyssa Tobe has ordered an autopsy. The sheriff's office said it will release no further information pending those autopsy results and the continuing investigation.
Anderson had recently been diagnosed with dementia and had undergone a hernia procedure shortly before he disappeared, according to the Mercer County Outlook. He had been living at Hand-Up Village, a transitional shelter for homeless Mercer County residents located at 7495 U.S. Route 127 just outside Celina. The medical details help explain why investigators and family feared he may have become disoriented or vulnerable after leaving the property.
Bicycle and Phone Signal Guided Early Search
Missing adult notices issued by the sheriff's office on August 11 indicated Anderson was believed to be traveling on a silver 10-speed bicycle, with his last mobile phone activity detected in the Celina area on August 9, per the Mercer County Outlook. That five-day gap between his last known phone signal and the missing-person report left investigators working with a narrow trail as the search expanded through the following week.
Celina police officers concentrated their search on a tract of city-owned land south of Hand-Up Village and north of the Celina city limits, according to LimaOhio.com. The site is thick with vegetation, the outlet reported, which shaped how officers and search teams moved through the property. The Celina Police Department searched the municipal parcel directly, and its officers were the ones who located the personal effects that matched Anderson's reported belongings.
Cadaver Dog, Drone Pilot and Volunteers Joined the Effort
The search drew in a mix of local, state and volunteer resources. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources provided a cadaver dog that found the suspected human remains, while Les Bowen of Elite Drone Services assisted the sheriff's office and Celina police. Mercer County deputies and detectives joined the search and followed up on several tips and leads called in by citizens.
Volunteer search and rescue group First In Last Out Ministries SAR formally activated a public search deployment on August 17 to assist law enforcement and Anderson's family, according to a post shared through the Mercer County Outlook. The group deploys trained search teams across Indiana and Ohio, and its involvement came just a day before the remains were found. The Mercer County Coroner's Office also responded to the scene once the discovery was made.
Remains Headed to Dayton for Examination
Per the coroner's office, the remains will be transported to Montgomery County for further examination. Montgomery County's coroner facility in Dayton conducts contractual autopsies for more than 40 Ohio counties, including Mercer County, that lack full-time forensic pathology centers, and it handled 1,228 such autopsies for outside counties in 2025. Celina sits roughly 58 miles northwest of Dayton, a distance that underscores why a small county seat of fewer than 11,000 residents relies on a regional lab for forensic work of this kind.
Hand-Up Village, the shelter where Anderson lived, was established in 2015 by Lord's Abounding Grace Church as a transitional facility with individual cabins for homeless Mercer County residents, according to WHIO. Residents there receive housing and support services while setting aside half their income toward securing permanent housing, the station has reported. It is not the first time investigators in the county have combed woodlands along the U.S. Route 127 corridor for human remains; a 2016 discovery of dismembered remains nearby, later identified through forensic techniques, drew a similarly complex investigation, according to WOWO.
The Mercer County Sheriff's Office has not confirmed whether the remains found this week are Anderson's, and the cause and manner of death remain undetermined pending the autopsy in Montgomery County. Investigators have not indicated whether they suspect foul play. The sheriff's office said no further details will be released until the autopsy and investigation are complete.
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