Murder investigations could be delayed.
Insurers may postpone life insurance payments.
The Stark County Coroner s Office says this could happen because it has been unable to perform autopsies.
Its sole forensic pathologist who did the autopsies, Daniel Brown, resigned in September to become a freelance pathologist. The former Akron police officer worked for Stark County for about nine months. He had replaced the prior pathologist, Renée Robinson, a Hoover High School graduate. She had stepped down in February 2019 after about three and a half years.
What are pathologists?
Pathologists are medical doctors who specialize in the study of bodily tissues and fluids. They often do a five-year residency after medical school. Forensic pathologists are pathologists who do an additional year of fellowship training. They perform in-depth internal and external examinations of bodies, known as autopsies, to help determine cause and manner of death.
Repository staff report
CANTON – Police are investigating an apparent homicide after a man was found dead outside his apartment building Tuesday in southwest Canton.
Officers were called about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday to the 600 block of Cleveland Avenue SW where a man was reportedly unconscious. The victim was identified as Jeffrey A. Loftus, 60.
The Stark County Coroner s Office was called to the scene.
Harry Campbell, chief investigator for the coroner s office, said the man s body was taken to Cuyahoga County where an autopsy was scheduled.
Investigators have not released the cause of Loftus death as they awaited results of the autopsy. A news release said the victim appeared to be the victim of a homicide.
Repository staff report
CANTON – A running toilet led an apartment building manager to find one of her tenants dead and covered in blood, Tuesday. I think the guy s dead, she can be heard on a 911 recording released by Canton police on Thursday. There s blood all over him. He s not moving. He s cold as ice.
Police were called at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday to the apartment building in the 600 block of Cleveland Avenue SW where Jeffrey A. Loftus, 60, was found dead in his apartment.
Friday afternoon, Canton Police Captain Dave Davis said they were investigating the incident as a homicide. We do believe that Mr. Loftus was struck with a blunt object on the head, Davis added.
Inmate found dead at Stark Regional Community Correction Center
Repository staff report
CANTON – Police are investigating the death of a prisoner at the Stark Regional Community Correction Center.
David A. Unklesbay, 59, of Gateway Boulevard NE, was found dead about 6 a.m. Tuesday at the facility at 4433 Lesh St. NE.
A nurse called 911, calmly telling a dispatcher that one of our residents is dead. I don t feel a pulse, I don t see any breath, she said. She directs them to come to admissions on the male side of the building.
Police declined to comment, saying the incident remained under investigation on Wednesday.
Independent staff report
BETHLEHEM TWP. The Stark County Coroner s Office has confirmed the identity of the victim of a fatal fire in February as 18-year-old Chase Rogers.
Investigator Rick Walters said identification was confirmed by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation through DNA.
Rogers, who had a bedroom in the basement of the home, became trapped in the lower level when a fire broke out at his family s home at 10216 Erie Ave. SW at 1:28 a.m. Feb. 28, investigators said.
Two adults escaped from the burning home and tried to rescue the victim but were turned back by the flames, officials said.