MIDDLETOWN, Ohio -- Two people have been charged with moving a woman’s body and dumping it in the woods after an apparent overdose, WCPO media partner the Journal-News reports.
Erica Robinson, 32, and Joshua Swenson, 28, both of 2912 Wilbraham Road, are each charged with tampering with evidence, abuse of a corpse, obstructing official business and permitting drug abuse, all felonies, according to Middletown police Lt. Scott Reeve.
The duo told police that 20-year-old Leslie Dalton overdosed in the house. They waited until nightfall, put her body in a wheelbarrow, covered it with a sheet then pushed her body across the street to the woods, according to Middletown police detectives.
Dalton, who police believe had been missing for couple weeks, was found dead in a dry creek bed on Sunday afternoon. Her body was badly decomposed.
Reeve said officers are looking for a third person believed to be involved in the crime.
In the Middletown City Jail booking report, Robinson said she moved Dalton’s body because she did not want to call the police and potentially get a nuisance letter from the city about the residence.
Neighbors such as Patricia Hayes said they were horrified to learn about the charges.
"Drugs have been really bad here lately, not just in Ohio, but of course the country. Now that there is (an overdose) in my neighborhood, it scares me," Hayes said. "It’s sad. I would rather them have called the police and taken to the hospital instead of that."
Robinson and Swenson are scheduled to be in Middletown Municipal Court on Monday for a preliminary hearing. They remain housed in the Middletown City Jail.
