JEFFREY BRENTLINGER |
A woman returned home on Thanksgiving day to find her father dead of an apparent homicide, according to a 911 tape released today by authorities.
Jeffrey A. Brentlinger, 45, died of a gunshot wound in his 6498 Township Road 127, Zanesfield, home.
His adult daughter Kelsie returned home shortly before 11 a.m. Thursday and found the house in disarray.
“My dad is unresponsive and he’s in a pool of blood,” she told dispatchers with the Logan County Sheriff’s Office.
Fighting back sobs, she continued on to tell dispatchers the front door was left open; the lights were on in the home; there was mud on the floor; and that her father was cold to the touch.
Deputies responded to the northeast Jefferson Township home along with agents from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation and secured the crime scene.
Investigators from the sheriff’s office and the Logan County Coroner’s Office determined the victim had suffered a gunshot wound and determined the preliminary cause of death to be a homicide, Sheriff Andrew J. Smith said today.
No signs of forced entry were observed at the home. Investigators believe the shooting incident occurred sometime between Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning.
Ms. Brentlinger said in the call that she left Wednesday and did not return home until finding the body Thursday morning. She said she, her father and her young daughter, who was not present at the time of the discovery, lived together in the home.
The sheriff would not comment on whether a firearm was recovered from the crime scene, which room inside the home the victim was found or if there were signs of a struggle inside the residence.
Local investigators and BCI agents completed the processing of the crime scene Thursday, and evidence was sent to the crime lab. The investigation continues.
Mr. Brentlinger was working at ACN Inc., was the former owner of JB Pools, Spas and Supplies, and also was a former employee of Honda Transmission Mfg., according to his Facebook page.