Cincinnati Police believe a body discovered in the early hours of Sunday morning along Winton Road is that of missing 13-year-old Esme Kenney.
Police are waiting on an autopsy to confirm the identity, but Kenney's parents have already responded with a written statement, saying "Our hearts are broken by this tragic end to a wonderful young spirit. We would like to thank everyone for their support, and ask that donations be made in Esme Kenneys name to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at
missingkids.com.
Administrators from Cincinnati's School for the Creative and Performing Arts, where Kenney was a 7th grader pursuing vocal and instrumental music, are bracing to comfort students on Monday. The school has arranged to have grief counselors available and will likely postpone standardized testing.
Police issued an Amber Alert Saturday afternoon after Kenney's parents told them she hadn't returned from a jog.
Her parents told police what her route was and a search began.
With the use of search dogs, a body was discovered around 3:00 a.m. in a wooded location along
Winton Road south of Oakfield Avenue.
Shortly after the body was discovered, the Amber Alert was canceled.
Cincinnati Police Lt. Mark Briede says police found a man in the area who told police enough to make them consider him a "person of interest" in a homicide.
"Around 11:30 pm (Saturday) we came across this person of interest because of what we learned from that person," said Briede. "We had the helicopter come out from the county, we called out for additional officers, we called for canine units, we began searching the heavily wooded area, 5900 Winton Road, and a little after 3:00 am one of the canine units discovered a body."
Police are awaiting autopsy results to learn exactly how Kenney died.
In addition to the body police found a man they are now calling a person of interest in the death.
Police tell 9News that the Coroner's office is on the scene and will be responsible for making a positive identification of the deceased person.
Stay with 9News at WCPO.com for updates on this story throughout the day.
