Man charged with abuse of corpse in death of 17-year-old girl in Ohio 13 years ago

Joe Fisher
·1 min read
270
UPI
Jacob Bumpass, now 34 years old, was found guilty of abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence by a jury in Ohio on Monday, relating to the death of 17-year-old Paige Johnson in 2010. Photo courtesy of the Clermont County Sheriff's Office

July 24 (UPI) -- A man has been found guilty of abusing a corpse and tampering with evidence 13 years after the disappearance of 17-year-old Paige Johnson in Ohio.

Jacob Bumpass, now 34 years old, was found guilty by a jury Monday after two days of deliberation. Both charges are felonies.

He was never charged with murder, in part, because coroners could not determine a cause of death. Prosecutors were unable to collect enough evidence to file homicide charges.

Johnson, a single mother from Florence, Ky., went missing in Covington, an eastern Ohio town about 90 miles away, in 2010. She vanished after attending a party with friends. Her remains were found in a wooded area near Williamsburg Township in Clermont County, Ohio, in 2020.

Bumpass was indicted in July 2020.

Police determined that Bumpass was the last person to see her alive. He told investigators that he dropped her off in Covington but his cell phone pinged on a cell tower near East Fork State Park. Her remains were found about a mile and a half from the tower.

Prosecutors alleged that Johnson died at Bumpass' home in Taylor Mill, Ky., and her remains were moved to the woods near East Fork Lake.

Bumpass' sentencing hearing is scheduled for Sept. 7. His attorney intends to appeal the ruling and seek a new trial, according to WLWT in Cincinnati.