Body found in woods of Ross County identified

CHILLICOTHE — On Sunday, Ross County Sheriff deputies were called to Baum Hill Road after two men in the woods found human remains.

Reports from the sheriff's office state that the men called in saying they were mushroom hunting and found possible human remains. Once on the scene, the men were talking over each other and telling differing stories with one man saying he thought he saw a deer skull and when he went closer it was human and the other saying the two got turned around in the woods and came across a body in a creek that was decapitated.

Despite the man saying they were turned around records show that they knew they were on the back side of a person's property.

On Tuesday morning, Ross County Sheriff George Lavender identified the body as 49-year-old Alan W. Brown. The preliminary investigation appears that the death is accidental in nature, according to Lavender.

The records also state that the men had not taken any pictures and were not going to report anything until they were confronted by two individuals with guns saying they were trespassing and trying to steal. After hours of thought, they decided to contact the sheriff's office.

Records state that one of the men went through "every emotion possible" while telling the story going from working with responders to claiming he was being treated like a criminal.

The next day the two individuals living on the property said that they were not home the previous evening and did not pull a gun on anyone. They allowed deputies to search the property. Eventually, the body was found partially submerged in water. It was a white male with no visible trauma signs or injury, including an attached head. His body was taken in for autopsy.

This article originally appeared on Chillicothe Gazette: Body found in woods of Ross County identified