The small town of Middletown, Ohio, is no stranger to tragedy, as it resides in the county leading the entire nation in Heroin overdose deaths.
However, two small children who were playing in the woods will forever be traumatized by what they found when they were simply looking for adventure.
Brian Blatchford-Dickerson, 24, who lived on Wilbraham Road in Middletown, was reported missing early Monday by his fiancee after she claimed she had not seen him since Friday, according to Middletown police.
The two children stumbled upon his corpse in the woods near his apartment on Monday afternoon, police said.
The young Middletown boys, ages 8 and 10, were simply playing hide-and-seek together, one of the boy’s mothers said.
Melissa Martin, one of the children's mothers said that she didn’t believe her child when he said he found a dead man until he took her to the body.
She claims her son was extremely upset and traumatized by the incident. Now she doesn’t want him playing alone in that area again, she said. “It’s just terrible,” Martin said. “No child should ever have to see that.”
When the police arrived they say that the missing man, Blatchford-Dickerson, was holding onto a tree with his left hand and his right hand was holding a green plastic cup. Police officials say it appeared as if he had been dead for “some time,” according to the police report.
At this time the cause of death for Blatchford-Dickerson is unknown and will remain as such pending investigation, according to the Butler County Coroner’s Office. An autopsy was performed Tuesday afternoon, but it will take weeks before the toxicology test results are complete, according to the coroner’s office.
The happy couple, Blatchford-Dickerson and his fiancee, Rebecca Doss, 21, were scheduled to be married in an upcoming ceremony in December, she told. She claims that while her fiance is a recovering heroin addict, she doesn't believe he overdosed since he had turned his life around.
“He never would have left me,” she said while crying her eyes out. She stated that her loving fiance took an Uber to work in Monroe on Friday morning, but after he arrived to work, he was disciplined and sent home because he was “still intoxicated,” according to the Middletown police report.
Allegedly a co-worker of his had dropped him off at a fast-food restaurant on North Verity Parkway, which is just a short distance from his apartment, the report said.
Doss said that she had checked with several businesses on Verity Parkway and employees told her Blatchford-Dickerson showed up belligerent and drunk, so they refused to service him at all.
According to the heartbroken woman, that was the last time she saw him, she said. Middletown Police state that the area is a high crime zone full of drugs and a reputed Heroin trafficking troublesome region for the city.
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This mother is so upset… HOW ABOUT DONT LET YOUR 8 year old play hide and seek in the woods… my eight year old doesn't play in my back yard if i can't see him. I'm sorry for the kids and for Mr. Blatchfords family, but the mother of the young boy has no rights to the victim role.
Two Children Find A Dead Boy In Ohio Woods
I suspect you mean 'body', especially considering the deceased is 24 years old in your report