The Lima News
Postmaster's Body Found Investigators comb area; Elgin reacts with shock VAN WERT -- With Sunday's discovery of the body of missing Elgin postmistress Betty Jane Mottinger near Findlay, the number of postal investigators working on the case from the Van Wert task force headquarters was expected to swell to about 20 today. Inspectors have been called in to process the scene where the body of the 48-year-old Ohio City woman was found, and to interview residents in the area where the body was discovered on Findlay's west side in hopes of uncovering more evidence in the case. The 96 residents of Elgin were numbed by news of the discovery of the body of their postmaster, who was kidnapped six weeks ago today.
"Nobody's even saying good morning," said Amy Baker, 40, who has served as postmaster since the abduction of Mrs. Mottinger in an Aug. 9 robbery that netted less than $50.
"I think everybody realized that she was gone (dead), but no one realized it would be so brutal, the way they did it," Mrs. Baker said. The search ended in a soybean field near Findlay on Sunday, when Mrs. Mottinger's tarpaulin-covered body was discovered. Officials who identified the decomposed body said Mrs. Mottinger died of multiple stab wounds. The body was found wrapped in a tarpaulin and bound with a cord and silver duct tape near the edge of a soybean field near the Blanchard River along Liberty Township Road 89 just south of U.S. Route 224 and west of I-75. The tarp was first discovered about 1 p.m. Saturday by a Findlay man hunting insects with his wife and son along the river.
According to Hancock County Sheriff Byron Boutwell, the man noticed the tarp with what appeared to be a bone protruding but he was unsure if it was animal or human. Boutwell said the unnamed man continued to think about it Saturday evening and decided to report it to the sheriff's department. Sheriff's deputies attempted to locate the object Saturday evening, but the search was called off because of darkness. The search resumed at 8 a.m. Sunday but without results. A deputy then placed the man under hypnosis and he was able to recall more details which enabled deputies to locate the body at about 9:25 a.m. Sunday. An autopsy Sunday at the Medical College of Ohio in Toldeo confirmed the body was that of Mrs. Mottinger. She was identified through comparison of dental records. Hancock County Coroner, Dr. William Kose said Mrs. Mottinger died from at least 13 stab wounds to the chest. Additional tests on the body were to be conducted today.
Based on the condition of the remains, investigators believe the body had been discarded in the field the day of the Elgin post office robbery, Aug. 9. A limited search of the area where the body was found was conducted Sunday, but no additional evidence was found. A more extensive search was to be conducted today. Among inspectors expected to return to the Van Wert area today, to assist in the investigation and to search the scene where the body was recovered are a crime scene specialist from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service office in Chicago, and a chemist from the agency's Washington, D.C. headquarters, according to Tom Strausbaugh, postal inspector in charge of the investigation.
Following the autopsy findings late Sunday afternoon, Mottinger family members met with Strausbaugh at the task force headqauters at the Van Wert Best Western motel and he informed them of the findings. Shortly before 8 p.m. Sunday, Ohio City and Van Wert fire department emergency squads were called to the Mottinger home where 47-year-old Clarence Mottinger, the victim's husband who has a history of heart problems, was experiencing breathing difficulty. He was treated and released at Van Wert County Hospital. Ironically, the tarpualin-wrapped body was the first discovered at about 1 p.m. Saturday, about the time prayer services for the missing postmaster were concluding at the Ohio City Olive Branch Church of God and St. Mary's Catholic Church in Van Wert. Services had been organized by friends seeking Mrs. Mottinger's safe return. Elgin is in Van Wert County, about 50 miles from Findlay. Mrs. Mottinger disappeared shortly after opening the Elgin post office at 8:20 a.m. Aug. 9. Investigators say less than $50 in case was taken, along with stamps. Two witnesses near the scene the morning of the robbery gave investigators a description of a man they saw sitting in a late-model car in front of the building. Postal inspectors are still seeking a Kentucky man, Marion "Sonny" Baumgardner Jr., 45, for the questioning in connection with the incident. Baumgardner, who also is being sought by U.S. marshals in McClean, Va., for a parole violation, served a federal prison term for the 1975 robbery of the post office in the small community of Dupont in western Putman County. Prior to the discovery of Mrs. Mottinger's body, the number of postal inspectors working on the case with the task force had been reduced to four. The number of inspectors had been reduced as the number of leads coming into the task force headquarters declined. During the six-week investigation, postal inspectors and investigators from the Van Wert County Sheriff's Department have interviewed more than 1,000 people in the Van Wert area and across the country. Several ground and aerial searches were also conducted in an attempt to locate Mrs. Mottinger. Funeral arrangements were incomplete at press time.
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