LISBON - The identity of the remains of a person found in a wooded ravine between Lisbon and Salem Wednesday morning is being investigated by the Summit County Coroner's Office.
A Mennonite lumber crew planning to timber the property discovered the remains, according to the Columbiana County Sheriff's Office.
Mervin Troyer of Carrollton, his two brothers and two cousins were walking in the wooded plot west of the area known as ski slope hill on state Route 45 and north of Teegarden Road. One of Troyer's brothers looked down over the hill and saw what appeared to be a body, the report states.
He called the others over and they called the sheriff's office at about 10 a.m. Wednesday.
Sheriff Ray Stone said the body had been there for some time, as evident by the skeletal remains and jeans. The body was found in a wooded area, a ravine with steep hillsides. He called it the type of area where no one usually would be hiking or hunting.
Stone said deputies did not see anything that indicated foul play, however, a final determination on the cause of death and the identity of the person will come from the coroner's office.
An investigator from the coronor's office, an agent from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation, and both a detective and sergeant from the Salem Police Department joined deputies. Salem funeral director Bob Greenisen also responded, bringing with him the Leetonia Volunteer Fire Department.
Stone did not want to speculate as to the identity of the person.
A 44-year-old mental health patient has been missing since June 10, when he was released from Salem Community Hospital and reportedly decided to walk back to Lisbon. At the time of his disappearance, the man was reported as wearing blue jeans and a white shirt.
Johnson writes for the Morning Journal in Lisbon.