Missing Miamisburg woman: ‘Ton of search warrants’ but no answers one year later

Chelsey Coe’s mother last saw the missing Miamisburg woman in late July at a farewell dinner for another daughter entering the Marines.

“I really didn’t get to spend much time with her,” a tearful Shula Woodworth said Monday.

The mother spoke on the one-year anniversary of the date she reported Coe’s disappearance and talked of the need for closure.

The past 12 months, Woodworth said, has been “the worst year of my life.”

RELATED: Police: Search for missing Miamisburg woman will continue

The wide-reaching investigation into Coe’s whereabouts has involved local, state and federal law enforcement and several public searches, but no solid answers, no suspects or charges.

Coe, who grew up in the outskirts of Lebanon in Warren County, is among a handful of missing women within a 35-mile radius from cities along I-71 and I-75. But few of those cases have generated the ongoing attention from investigators, and “all avenues are still open,” police said Monday.

The Coe case has included the FBI, Ohio’s crime lab, hundreds of hours of investigation, multiple searches in at least two counties and the closing of streets and hundreds of acres of public parkland.

RELATED: Chelsey Coe disappearance: ‘Somebody knows what happened’

Search dogs, excavation and ground-penetrating radar have been used to find clues to her whereabouts. Miamisburg police have filed “a ton of search warrants” and identified a “strong” person of interest, but investigators have not filed any charges in the case of Coe, who would be 27 on Oct. 6.

The year, Woodworth said, has been a trying time for her and her family, as friends and others curious about news about her daughter reach out.

“I’m constantly being reminded that my daughter’s missing,” she said. “I know people care….they want to know if I found anything out. But it seems that some days, it’s just so hard to even get through the day — even not being reminded that she’s missing.

“I do appreciate people caring,” Woodworth added, “but I have to live. And I just can’t. I need closure.”

RELATED: Chelsey Coe’s disappearance: What we know now

Woodworth implored anyone with information about her daughter’s whereabouts to reach out with information.

“We want answers. Somebody knows something,” she said. “Whether it’s the last person that she stayed with or the person who picked her up, dropped her off somewhere that night.”

Woodworth and neighbors in the quiet Lower Miamisburg Road neighborhood that was Coe’s last-known address described a friendly person who struggled with drug problems.

Miamisburg police continue to have the same unnamed male person of interest they identified this spring. But that person has quit communicating with authorities and “abandoned his house and quit his job,” said Miamisburg Sgt. Jeff Muncy, head of that city’s detective division.

RELATED: Mother of missing woman surprised by police search of Greene County park

“Because we don’t know where (Coe) is or what happened to her, we can’t concentrate completely on one person,” Muncy said.

Coe’s disappearance is not believed to be connected to women reported in Middletown from May 2016 to May 2017, Muncy said.

But a recent search at Coe’s address on Lower Miamisburg Road — an infrequently traveled area west of the Great Miami River — coincided with human remains authorities think may belong to Michelle Burgan, a Middletown woman reported missing in May of last year.

The remains were found on the property of a Moraine home earlier this month. Their discovery sparked confusion with Woodworth, Muncy said, before Gilbert Todd Revere, 57, was charged in connection to the Burgan case.

RELATED: Police have person of interest in case of missing Miamisburg woman

In early May, at least three properties on Lower Miamisburg Road — including Coe’s last-known address — were part of a search.

More than a dozen FBI, Ohio BCI, Miamisburg police and crews from the south suburban Tactical Crime Suppression Unit were part of the first day’s search, authorities said. Sedlak said the second day’s search included FBI and Miamisburg police.

Another search, Muncy said, included a Rumpke facility in Moraine.

In July, authorities closed Sugarcreek MetroPark in Greene County for much of three days as they combed through hundreds of acres. The park was in the vicinity where Muncy said Coe was last seen in mid-June 2017.

At the time Coe was reported missing, she was described as 5-foot-7, 150 pounds with blue eyes, blonde hair with a “Love” tattoo on her hip, and one of stars on her lower back, according to police.

Anyone with information they believe would be helpful to the case is asked to call Muncy at 937-847-6612.

MORE COVERAGE ON THIS ISSUE:

RELATED: Missing woman search: 9 issues to know about Miamisburg case

RELATED: Miamisburg police, FBI search related to Chelsey Coe’s disappearance

RELATED: Records sealed about missing woman search that involved FBI, state and local authorities


STAYING WITH THE STORY

The Dayton Daily News was the first to report many details of the Chelsey Coe missing persons case, including the searches at properties in Miamisburg and Moraine, as well as police identifying a person of interest.

About the Author