Woman's hanging body mistaken for Halloween decoration
The woman, who had suffered trauma to her head and neck, was initially thought to be a Halloween decoration
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The body of a woman who had been killed was initially mistaken for a Halloween decoration, police in Ohio said this week.
The woman’s body was discovered “near a fence line” in Chillicothe on Tuesday, police said in a news release.
Contractors working in the area believed the body was a decoration and went to remove it, Detective Bud Lytle, Chillicothe Police Department public information officer, told The Washington Post.
When the mistake became clear, police were called to the scene, he said.
The victim was identified as 31-year-old Rebecca Cade, Lytle said.
The preliminary cause of death was determined to be blunt force trauma to the head and neck.
The Columbus Dispatch spoke with residents who lived nearby, including Tammy Dixon, who told the newspaper that she saw Cade’s body when she left to drop her child off at school.
“I thought somebody was playing a prank on the construction workers and I told my daughter it was just a dummy,” Dixon said.
“It was so awful that I thought the prank went too far.”
Arrested in connection to Cade’s death was 27-year-old Donnie Cochenour Jr., police said. It’s unclear if Cochenour, who is facing one count of murder, has an attorney.
The Chillicothe Gazette reported: Officials believe “some type of argument” began somewhere in the open field, and a trail of blood led investigators to believe Cade was running from the suspect. Officials also indicated that Cade had been climbing the fence in an attempt to get out of the area inside the fencing. During the press conference, it was revealed that she likely died on the fence.
“Rebecca didn’t deserve that, what happened to her,” Denise Hughes, who is raising Cade’s young child, told the Columbus Dispatch. “She was always running the streets and always doing the drugs, but she had people who loved her.
“I hope she knew that.”
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