Body still not identified (12/18/07)

Work continues to identify a body found Monday morning in a wooded area near the Jay County Landfill.

Jay County Deputy Coroner Paulette Wagner said Monday afternoon that she could not positively identify the body found in a creek as that of missing Pittsboro resident Clifford E. "Jack" Obenchain, 91, who has been unaccounted for since Dec. 3.

Wagner said if she were to put Obenchain's driver's license photo next to the body, she could not say for sure the body was that of the missing man.

"I can't honestly tell you that (Obenchain) is the one that we pulled out of that creek," Wagner said. Obenchain's medical records will be compared to the body in an attempt to make an identification, she said.

Three members of the Jay County Sheriff's Department, however, believe the body is that of the missing man. Obenchain's family has been notified that his body has been found, police said.

Obenchain's driver's license was found with the body, Wagner said. The missing man wore glasses and no glasses were found with the body. Also, he was last seen wearing a white shirt and blue pants. The man found was wearing tan pants, she said.

The body, frozen and covered in snow, was found Monday by Jay County police.

A Redkey resident was hunting in the woods near county road 550 West, north of county road 575 South. The hunter saw a blue and silver Chevrolet Suburban parked in the woods on Wednesday and thought someone else was there hunting, said Jay County investigator Todd Penrod. When the hunter returned Monday morning, the vehicle was still there and he called Redkey police. The police department contacted Jay County police Monday at 9:40 a.m.

"It's very possible that he was there the evening of Dec. 3," Penrod said of the body he believes is Obenchain. The investigator declined to say why he believes the body has been there that long.

The road comes to a dead end, and there is a long lane that leads back to the woods. The front of the SUV was in a creek, which is about a foot-and-a-half deep, Wagner said. The driver's side door was open and the body was found frozen in the fetal position in ice and snow. Only a portion of the face was visible.

There is a mud on the tires of the vehicle, indicating that the driver became stuck and tried to back out of the creek, Wagner said. She said the driver likely fell into the creek when he got out of the truck.

Wagner said that at this point, "There's absolutely no way to tell" how the man died or how long he has been dead. After the body thaws out, which could take up to 48 hours, it will be taken to Ball Memorial Hospital, Muncie, for an autopsy. The body appears to be well preserved and shows no signs of decomposition, the deputy coroner said.

Police found no signs of foul play at the scene. Wagner said she could not tell if there were any signs of trauma to the body because of its frozen state.

"It just appears that he got lost and disoriented," Penrod said. "It's just a sad, unfortunate ending for the family."

Obenchain was reported missing by his family after he failed to make a delivery for Mears Machine, a company located in Avon in Hendricks County, west of Indianapolis. The company last made contact with Obenchain about noon on Dec. 3, Penrod said.

Wagner said she plans to subpoena Obenchain's cellular phone records to determine where he was when he called his son Dec. 3 about 6:30 p.m., and where he was when his son called him back. During the conversation, the two became disconnected. Obenchain's son called him several times but the calls went to voicemail. A cell phone was found with the body, Wagner said.

The missing man was stopped by police near Bellefontaine, Ohio, about 4:30 p.m. on Dec. 3 for driving erratically. He reportedly told the police officer he was lost, but had a map. He headed back west toward Indiana, Penrod said. Bellefontaine is about 70 miles east of Jay County.[[In-content Ad]]