Cleveland officials have not made a positive identification on the body found on Fuller Avenue over the weekend on the city’s East Side as searchers scoured the area for a missing teenager.
Chief Calvin Williams, flanked by other city and federal authorities during a Tuesday afternoon press conference, said they had a good idea who the body belonged based on evidence.
Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner Thomas Gilson said the remains recovered is that of a “young, black girl,” and a lead consideration in their investigation is Alianna DeFreeze who was reported missing last week when she failed to make it to school.
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Tuesday’s press conference was the first time city officials have discussed the missing persons case of DeFreeze and the body recovered in the two-story home publicly. Officials stopped short of specifically connecting the teenager with the body. Authorities announced a $22,500 reward for information about DeFreeze in an open plea for the community’s help in solving the case.
“Our officers have been working nonstop since Sunday night, and we need the community’s help to bring closure to this victim’s family,” Williams said.
DeFreeze, 14, was last seen at 6:50 a.m. exiting a Regional Transit Authority bus at E. 93rd Street and Kinsman Avenue.DeFreeze was reported missing after relatives were notified by her school that she was not in attendance at 4:15 p.m., according to a police news release.
Relatives and friends hung flyers and scoured the area for days looking and hoping for a safe return.
Officers in the fourth district were assisting in the search when they located the body in an empty house in the 9400 block of Fuller Avenue. Federal Bureau of Investigations also helped in the search. The body was found about a mile away from where DeFreeze was last seen.
The discovery of the body led some to think it was part of a string of killings. It is the fifth body found in the immediate area in recent years. Williams did not comment about the illusion of a serial killer but said evidence in homicide investigations are always compared.
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Officials said a second press conference will possibly be held later in the week in the disappearance of DeFreeze and the discovery of the body.
“We’re not going to rest until this perpetrator of this crime against this young lady is brought to justice,” Williams said.
Anyone with information regarding the disappearance of DeFreeze or the body found should call Cleveland police at (216) 623-5464 or Crimestoppers at (216) 252-7463 or by texting TIP657 plus your message to Crimes 274637. Tips may be provided anonymously.
