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Body of Missing Indiana Teen Hailey Buzbee Recovered in Ohio, Attorney Says

Authorities had shifted to a recovery operation after concluding the 17-year-old likely died following contact with a 39-year-old Ohio man now jailed on child-exploitation and evidence-tampering charges.

Overview

  • Defense attorney Samuel Shamansky said authorities recovered Buzbee’s body in Perry County, Ohio, and he credited his client with directing investigators to the precise location.
  • Thomas appeared in an Ohio court Monday for a brief hearing and remains in custody with no bond posted by agreement of the parties, according to his attorney.
  • Investigators have not announced a cause of death or additional charges, and police previously said no homicide count had been filed in the case.
  • Police say evidence shows Buzbee was at Thomas’s Columbus home and a Hocking County short-term rental, where searches used drones, K-9s and ground teams.
  • Fishers police identified Thomas after tracing a vehicle seen near Buzbee’s home; he initially claimed he dropped her along a western Ohio road, a story investigators determined was false.