RANDOLPH COUNTY, Ind. – Investigators in Randolph County found what’s believed to be the remains of a missing man after his body was dumped there following a homicide in Ohio.
Police from Ohio contacted the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office early Friday morning about the case.
The Troy Police Department had been investigating the disappearance of 25-year-old Easton Ho from Troy, Ohio. The man’s roommates told police they’d received strange text messages from him around 2:45 a.m. on Thursday, April 14. He failed to show up to work in Miamisburg that morning.
Officers spent much of Thursday looking for Ho, alerting other law enforcement agencies to watch for him and his vehicle. Around 6:30 p.m., Troy police learned his vehicle was located near Kettering, along with evidence that led officers to believe he’d been a victim of foul play.
Detectives again interviewed the roommates; one of them, 25-year-old Sean Higgins, admitted he killed Ho and provided information to investigators. He was taken to the Miami County Jail on charges of aggravated murder, abuse of a corpse, tampering with evidence, theft and receiving stolen property.
Police said that Higgins even had cut off the victim’s thumb in order to continue using Ho’s cellphone.
While police recovered key evidence in the case, they’d been unable to find Ho’s body.
That changed Friday, when deputies in Randolph County found evidence near a bridge on Greenville Creek close to the Indiana-Ohio state line.
A conservation officer from the Department of Natural Resources and an Indiana State Police crime scene tech were called to assist. Search teams found additional evidence in the water and discovered a body around 12:15 p.m. Friday.
The remains were taken to the Randolph County Coroner’s Office to confirm the victim’s identity. Other evidence found at the scene was turned over to the Ohio investigators.
