Reynoldsburg man’s death investigated as homicide

The man next door had a sickly appearance and told his neighbor weeks ago that he was 46 and suffered from cancer.

So when Reynoldsburg police officers knocked on Angela Saffell’s door Wednesday afternoon and told her that her neighbor was dead inside the house in the 7700 block of Pembrook Drive in the Slate Ridge subdivision off Route 256, she thought it was cancer.

But officers then told her that the cause of his death was not sickness.

Sgt. Mike Binder of the Reynoldsburg police said they are investigating the “suspicious” death of the man as a homicide. His name was being withheld pending positive identification.

Police officers discovered the dead man while making a well-being check at 12:36 p.m.

Saffell, 51, said the man had moved into the house last August. She said she noticed that he looked thin and sickly and had her children mow the lawn when it grew shaggy.

“He came out to thank me and told me that he had some type of cancer,” Saffell said.

The man told her that he kept the front and back doors open because the locks weren’t working.

Reynoldsburg police said the victim’s white 2005 Mercury Grand Marquis — which had its driver and passenger side windows broken recently — was apparently missing. The license plate number is Ohio HBN8685. Anyone with information is asked to call police at 614-866-6622.