Two more bodies with possible links to the Craigslist shootings were discovered Friday morning in Akron and Noble County’s Stock Township.
FBI spokeswoman Vicki Anderson said a clothed body was discovered in a shallow grave in a wooden area along Harlem Road behind the old Rolling Acres mall. The body was taken to the Summit County Medical Examiner’s Office, where an autopsy is to be performed this morning.
Authorities say another body was found around noon Friday in Noble County and appears to be that of a white male. It was taken to the Licking County Coroner’s Office.
The cause of death and identities are under investigation.
The first body linked to a job ad on online advertiser Craigslist was found earlier this month.
An FBI email inadvertently forwarded to media, including the Akron Beacon Journal on Friday, said the family of Timothy Kern in Massillon had been told that a body had been found. Kern, 47, disappeared Nov. 13, and his family said he answered the same ad for a farmhand that authorities say led to the shooting death of Norfolk, Va., resident David Pauley, 51.
A South Carolina man reported answering the ad but managed to escape after being shot Nov. 6.
Timothy Kern, a divorced father of three sons, worked most recently cleaning gas station driveways, his father said.
His father, Jack Kern, said his son apparently answered the Craigslist ad Oct. 30 and interviewed for the job with a man in an Akron restaurant Nov. 9. Timothy Kern left his car with a friend in Akron on Nov. 13 and was driven to what he was told was the job site.
Timothy Kern’s son, Zachary, posted on a personal blog Sunday:
“Today when I woke up, I was told that my father was one of the three people killed by the latest Craigslist killer. My father answered to an ad on Craigslist about a job opportunity involving a 688 acre farm and housing in a 2 bedroom trailer.
“No one knows the exact date he was murdered, but it was sometime between Sunday the 13th and Thursday the 17th. The case is still under investigation. If you could keep my family and I in your thoughts I would appreciate it. The years ahead of me will be so hard. I love you dad. Rest in peace.”
Richard Beasley, 52, of Akron, is considered a suspect in the Craigslist shootings. He is being held in the Summit County Jail on unrelated charges.
Authorities say he placed the ads that led to the shootings.
Brogan Rafferty, 16, a junior at Stow-Munroe Falls High School, is being held in a juvenile detention facility on charges of complicity.
Agents have contacted individuals to check on their well-being, FBI spokesman Harry Trombitas said Friday.
One was Heather Tuttle of Ravenna, who applied for the job Oct. 7 but never got a response. She had forgotten about the posting until an FBI agent called and left a message for her Monday.
When she called back, she was stunned at what the agent told her.
“It could have been me,” said Tuttle, 27, who has since taken work as an assistant manager at a gas station.
“When the situation was explained to me, it just instantly made me sick and made me realize how lucky I am that I didn’t get a response back.”
Deputies in Noble County began investigating a robbery and shooting Nov. 6. A South Carolina man told deputies he was lured to Marietta to meet two men about an ad on Craigslist seeking a worker to help on a 688-acre cattle ranch.
That man was shot when he visited the property with the men. He hid for seven hours until he was able to reach a home and call for help.
Five days later, a Boston woman called deputies about her missing twin brother. She believed he answered the same Craigslist ad. Based on that information, deputies returned to the area of the Nov. 6 shooting and on Nov. 15, a body was found in a shallow grave.
Authorities have not released the name of either victim, citing a judge’s gag order.
The Columbus Dispatch has identified the wounded man as Scott Davis, 48, a former Canton resident.
Beacon Journal staff writers Rick Armon, Dave Scott and the Associated Press contributed to this report.