The Ohio creep linked to the loss of life of lacking Indiana teen Hailey Buzbee traded disturbing messages and images with the lady a 12 months earlier than snatching her from her residence final month – then led investigators to the place her dismembered physique was buried, federal prosecutors stated.
Tyler Thomas, 39, was hit Tuesday with federal exploitation prices for crossing state strains to carry the 17-year-old again to his Ohio residence and finishing up sickening sexual acts earlier than she turned up useless, in accordance with the US Legal professional’s Workplace for the Southern District of Ohio.
Buzbee was final seen close to her Fishers, Indiana, residence on Jan. 5, along with her hacked up stays discovered deep within the woods of the Buckeye State on Feb. 2.
No prices have but been filed within the teen’s loss of life.
“The submitting of those federal prices doesn’t sign the tip of the investigation,” US Legal professional Dominick S. Gerace II stated in a press release.
“Our prosecutors proceed to work with our federal, state, and native regulation enforcement companions to gather and comb by way of proof in pursuit of justice for Hailey and her household. We recognize the general public’s persistence because the investigation proceeds.”
Prosecutors alleged Thomas, who met the teenager gaming on Discord, drove about 160 miles in a single day from Columbus, Ohio, to Fortville, Indiana, on Jan. 6 to select her up at residence after plotting Buzbee’s escape throughout year-long sexually-charged on-line chats.
Telephone information allegedly tracked Thomas to a Logan Airbnb the night time he grabbed Buzbee, then close to the North County Path in Wayne Nation Forest the subsequent morning – the grotesque web site the place the lady’s mutilated stays had been later discovered, court docket paperwork confirmed.
The sicko allegedly wiped his cellphone of disturbing Snapchat messages and sexually express images of the teenager taken at his Columbus residence and the Airbnb, the place prosecutors stated traces of blood had been discovered.
Investigators additionally seized further cell telephones and computer systems from his residence, uncovering obscene images of a roughly 10-year-old lady and a vile Discord dialog with one other teen who stated she was within the tenth grade, in accordance with the charging paperwork.
In a single message, Thomas allegedly requested the teenager: “Does child carve components of her physique?” including that she’d “look so good lined in purple.”
Throughout an interview with police on Jan. 21, Thomas allegedly instructed cops he believed Buzbee “was alive and protected” – however refused to confess to her homicide, chillingly saying, “No, I wouldn’t inform you.”
He was charged with pandering sexually oriented materials involving a minor and proof tampering on Jan. 31.
Two days later, he led investigators to the precise spot the place the teenager’s lifeless physique was buried below a thick layer of frozen filth, prosecutors stated.
Officers stated his state prices might be dismissed because the federal case strikes forward.
Thomas is being held on a $1.5 million money bond at Franklin County Jail.
