Police search for man tied to ‘accidental’ fatal shooting

Worried family said Yellow Springs man went missing Jan. 13.

While the Greene County Coroner’s Office has con- cluded the Dec. 13 shooting death of a Yellow Springs man was an accident, a man with mental health issues who cleaned up the scene after the incident remains missing.

Kenneth Livingston died of an accidental gunshot to the head, according to the coroner’s report released this week. The toxicology results show the 40-yearold Livingston had alcohol and marijuana in his system, but he was otherwise in good health.

The police investigation into Livingston’s death remains open, as test results on the firearm are not in yet from the Miami Valley Regional Crime Lab, Sgt. Joshua Knapp said.

Police said the day after the incident that it appeared to be an accidental, self-inflicted gunshot, however Livingston’s hands were not swabbed and tested for gunshot residue, according to Greene County Coroner’s Office Administrator Bill Harden.

Meanwhile, since mid-Jan- uary no one has seen or heard from a well-known village denizen, 26-year- old Leonid “Lonya” Clark, who cleaned up the scene at the Corry Street apartment where Livingston died, according to Lonya’s adop- tive father, Eric Clark.

Clark said his son is the kind of person who always volunteered to help when needed, but he was deeply troubled after Dec. 13. Clark said his gut tells him his son’s connection to the incident that day is a factor in his disappearance.

“It affected him more than he was able to verbalize,” Clark said. “He came over to our house several times and he would just pace back and forth in our living room ... He’d talk about it in a sen- tence or two ... He needed to talk about it but didn’t know how.”

Clark said they’ve been able to narrow down the timeline of when Lonya went missing. On the morning of Sunday, Jan. 13, Lonya received an Uber ride from a friend’s home in Ketter- ing. The friend paid for the ride, because Lonya didn’t have cash, Clark said. That afternoon, Lonya was argu- ing via text with the same friend and that conversa- tion didn’t end well, he said.

“How would he be able to afford to get anywhere if he couldn’t afford the Uber ride?” Clark said. “We’re still back to this idea that something happened to him that Sunday or Sunday night.”

Word has spread across the village and residents have been asked to check their garages and outbuildings for signs of Lonya. About a fifth of the residences in Yellow Springs have been checked, Clark said, adding that flyers were posted Friday in the Kettering area.

If you can help in the search for Lonya Clark, call Yellow Springs police at (937) 767-7206.