The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office is examining how materials discarded from its headquarters ended up along the Great Miami River in downtown Dayton. Deputies in the office’s Forensic Services Unit recovered the materials after they were found, according to WHIO-TV 7 and WHIO Radio. The investigation is focused on how the materials moved from the agency’s disposal process to the riverbank.
The sheriff’s office said the envelopes had been placed in a dumpster at its headquarters after officials determined that the related criminal cases were closed and the contents were no longer needed. The dumpster is generally locked until a waste carrier empties it, and investigators believe someone removed the envelopes before they were left near the river, according to the Dayton Daily News and WHIO-TV 7 and WHIO Radio.
What was found
Jenna Lynn found the box while walking near the river with her boyfriend, according to FOX19 NOW. The envelopes came from the Miami Valley Regional Crime Lab and carried labels referring to blood swabs and bullets from magazines. Some were dated as far back as 2024, and a nearby box was marked “trash,” the Dayton Daily News reported.
Lynn posted video of the discovery on Facebook and raised concerns about exposed biological and ballistic material, FOX19 NOW reported. The sheriff’s office said removing discarded material from a dumpster is not, by itself, illegal. Deputies are continuing to examine how the envelopes were transported from the headquarters dumpster to the riverbank.
How evidence disposal is supposed to work
Ohio guidance treats evidence handling as a documented process. The Ohio Attorney General’s Office and Ohio Auditor of State say their property-and-evidence-room best-practices manual addresses security, record keeping, inventory, disposal and accountability. The Ohio Collaborative Community-Police Advisory Board’s records-policy standard also calls for agencies to follow a public-records-based retention schedule and maintain records-destruction procedures, according to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office and Ohio Auditor of State and the Ohio Collaborative Community-Police Advisory Board.
The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office says its Property Management unit is responsible for safeguarding evidence and found property under the agency’s control, according to the sheriff’s office. The current investigation has not established how the envelopes left the headquarters disposal stream or whether the agency’s procedures were bypassed.
Anyone with information about the circumstances is asked to contact Deputy Jackson at 937-781-3048, according to WDTN.
