Bernice Hayslip, 75, disappeared from Latham, Ohio, in the summer of 2016. She had recently undergone a heart procedure and was reportedly released into the care of her daughter, 44-year-old Tracy Sowards, who is said to have moved her mother from Adams County to Pike County after the medical episode.

No missing person report was filed for over a year while Bernice’s pension and Social Security continued to be collected. In fall 2017 a tip emerging from a drug-related arrest prompted the Pike County Sheriff’s Office to open an investigation. Investigators found Bernice’s credit card had been used in July 2017 at a Walmart in Waverly; the purchases were made by Tracy Sowards, who was arrested on a felony misuse-of-credit-card charge and named a person of interest in the disappearance.

In November 2017 cadaver dogs searched property on Lapperell Road where Sowards had lived and human remains were located in a fire pit. A 24-year-old man, Brandon Friend, was arrested on abuse-of-a-corpse and evidence-tampering charges; a judge later dismissed those charges for lack of probable cause. The remains were submitted for laboratory identification, but no identification results have been released and foul play remains under consideration. If anyone knew Bernice, her movements in 2016–2017, or has information about the Lapperell Road search, please share what is known.