Police still not close to naming suspects
Search for missing woman hits Sugarcreek MetroPark.
SUGARCREEK TWP. — Police who closed a sprawling Greene County park this week to search with federal and state officials for clues involving a missing Miamisburg woman say they aren’t narrowing in on a suspect yet.
The person of interest linked to Chelsey Coe’s disappearance last year remains the same as in May — when authorities raided her last-known address and searched nearby properties. But authorities haven’t discussed filing charges against anyone, said Miamisburg Sgt. Jeff Muncy.
“We’re not to that point yet,” the head detective on the investigation told this news organization during the second of a three-day search involving FBI and dogs at the 618-acre Sugarcreek MetroPark.
“We’re looking into several different people,” he said. “We n’t narrowed it down to just one. But we have had a person of interest, and we’re still trying to follow that up.
“But we’re not just focusing on that person,” someone Muncy has identified only as a male. “We’re looking at all possibilities.”
Authorities initially said they may wrap up the search if they didn’t find anything by the end of Wednesday. But Muncy said investigators will return today.
“Were going to finish up in the morning and hopefully be out by noon,” he said.
He declined to discuss any evidence uncovered at the park. However, unlike the early May search on Lower Miamisburg Road properties in Miamisburg, investigators have not used any digging equipment.
Muncy said authorities have reason to believe the park was one of the last areas Coe — who was 25 when she went missing — was seen around before she disappeared, likely in mid-June 2017.
It’s “unlikely” Coe is still alive, he said, “but we don’t know what happened to her.”
At least one person, Muncy said, does know Coe’s fate. And he is urging anyone with knowledge about what happened to her to contact police.
“Somebody knows what happened to Chelsey,” Muncy said. “They know what happened to her, where she was and where she is. And if they could just reach out and let us know — even if they want to be anonymous — to call us and let us know.”
Anyone with tips should call Miamisburg police at 937-847-6600.
Coe’s mother, Shula Woodworth, reported her daughter — who she said was a former Lebanon-area resident who attended Springboro High School — missing in September.
Muncy said of Coe: “Unfortunately, she was involved in drugs, which got her involved in some prostitution stuff. She would sometimes go a period of time without speaking to her mom. So her mom didn’t report her right away.”
He said, “Chelsey’s mom would like to find her one way or the other, and that’s what we’re continuing to try to do. That’s why we keep doing the investigations and searches that we’re doing. There’s nothing concrete that says she’s here.”
“This is just one lead we’re investigating, and we’re trying to do it thoroughly to find her,” he said.
With about 25 law enforcement and park officers and agents and between 10 and 20 dogs on hand Wednesday, Muncy said authorities searched more than 400 acres by mid-afternoon.
“The park was broken down into several different areas — at least the bulk of those areas we wanted to get searched,” he said. “We have a few left that we want to get to.”
With foliage in full bloom, a summer search at the park presents challenges that one in other seasons would not, Muncy said.
“That makes it kind of tough to search for the dogs because everything’s real thick,” he said. “The grass is thick, the wood line’s thick, the terrain is up and down. So it is much harder to search this time of year.”
This week’s search has not been “as productive as I’d like because I’d like to find Chelsey,” he said. “So we’re going to keep searching, keep following leads until we find her.”