TV series generates new tips in missing women cases
CHILLICOTHE, Ohio — Investigators probing the cases of six missing or dead women in Ross County in the last two years say a national, six-part docu-series on them is spurring a new flurry of tips to the task force.
"We're getting new tips," said T.J. Hollis, chief deputy for Ross County Sheriff George Lavender. "As we always have, we're encouraging any tip and would never discourage anyone with information from contacting us."
The volume of new information comes at the midpoint of "The Vanishing Women," the six-part Investigation Discovery series focusing on four women: Tameka Lynch, Shasta Himelrick, Timberly Claytor and Tiffany Sayre, all of whom died between 2014 and 2015; and two others: Charlotte Trego and Wanda Lemons, who remain missing.
The series premiered on Monday, June 6. Each episode is an hour long and airs at 10 p.m. ET.
Monday's episode focused on Lynch, who disappeared in May 2014 and was found dead in Paint Creek on Memorial Day weekend of that year. Friends and family members recalled Lynch as a loving mother who developed an addiction first to pain pills, then to heroin, after being diagnosed with lupus.
Tips are coming in from all over the nation, as they have since the task force formed about a year ago.
"The show has certainly brought more notoriety to these cases," Hollis said, adding that some of the tips are outlandish. "We look at every one and determine the value of each. We're still out pursuing good leads."
Keeping the story in the community's mind's eye is also the goal of David Magill, a local man who heads up Chillicothe Coming Together, a faith-based group that formed a year ago to bring law enforcement and the residents together to fight drugs and the crime that comes with them.
The group will have a community event on Saturday that will include a time of remembrance for the families of all six missing women.
"("The Vanishing Women") is good because it's bringing a lot of attention to the story of the missing women, but it's also bringing back a lot of bad memories for the families," Magill said.
Anyone with information on the case can call the task force hotline 740-774-FIND (3463) or email findme@RossSheriff.com.