UPDATE @ 7:15 p.m.: Police are investigating the circumstances of human remains found in the basement of a home on Virginia Avenue in Dayton.
Megan Lauhon said she believes the remains, which the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office said Thursday night were found in a plastic Rubbermaid tub, are that of her grandmother.
According to the coroner’s office, the remains are that of a person who has been deceased and in the tub for an extended period of time.
“I’ve already called before and they thought I was crazy when I called and I wish that I was crazy,” Lauhon told dispatchers Wednesday night.
“It’s been about three years since anyone has seen her,” she said of her grandmother, who was in her 80s. Lauhon included herself as not having heard from her grandmother the last three years.
County regional dispatch records show Dayton police were dispatched about 10:30 p.m. to an address on Virginia Avenue on a welfare check.
“That’s where my grandmother is in the cooler in the basement,” Lauhon told police, adding she had also been told her grandmother was wrapped in plastic wrap.
She also has told police she believed someone was collecting her grandmother’s Social Security benefits. According to Lauhon, police told her they are looking into that allegation.
Late Thursday afternoon, police officials said they expect to release a statement about the investigation sometime Friday, declining to offer any details about the state of the remains.
Coroner’s investigators said they have a possible ID but are working to officially confirm that ID.
Lauhon said police told her Thursday morning they believe the body is her grandmother.
“I’m very, very thankful that the detective, the second time that I called, followed through and went above and beyond and found my grandmother and didn’t make it seem like I just made up some crazy story,” Lauhon told News Center 7’s Kate Bartley by phone from North Carolina, where she lives.
We will update this developing report as details emerge.
