NORWALK — A week after Huron County Sheriff Todd Corbin stood up the mother of likely homicide victim Katelynn Shepard, both the sheriff and County Prosecutor Jim Sitterly continue to refuse to see her.
“Not yet,” Tricia Shepard texted late Sunday. She was responding to a question about whether she’s heard from them since Sheriff Corbin let deputies keep her waiting in the jail lobby last week for more than an hour. No one ever came out to talk to her. A source told StayTunedSandusky that Lt. Bob Duncan was explicitly ordered by Corbin not to see or speak with Tricia and her family that day, April 14.
Tricia hangs on hope—the smallest of signs that the sheriff’s office might help, might listen, might someday care. She doesn’t know where else to turn. She thinks, “Maybe tomorrow. Maybe tomorrow.” She wakes up every day ready to fight for her daughter, but some days, she admits, the weariness takes over. She is tired. She is sad. But she won’t quit. She’ll die before she stops fighting for Katelynn.
Corbin and Sitterly don’t seem to care a lick about that.
Tricia Shepard was there last Tuesday with Katelynn’s stepfather, Jeff Maletz, and their younger daughter, Hailey Maletz. They showed up for a scheduled appointment because that is what families do. A news team from TV Channel 19 in Cleveland was also there, alongside StayTunedSandusky.
A dispatcher claimed Corbin, who refuses to speak directly to the press, could not be located. He hasn’t contacted Tricia since to reschedule. For eight years, he has refused to meet with the family or provide a meaningful update on the investigation. Tricia wonders why she should be surprised, then forces herself to remain hopeful.
It remains unknown why Corbin and Sitterly are treating Katelynn’s family with such disregard. Sitterly, mirroring the sheriff, also refuses to speak to the press on the record.
Same old script
Corbin treated the family of Amanda Dean—murdered in 2017, a year before Katelynn was killed—in the exact same disrespectful manner. At one point, Corbin and Chief Deputy David Ditz practically chased Amanda’s mother and sister out of the sheriff’s office, telling them they would not help when they asked for help.
The Dean family now has a pending federal lawsuit, contending the sheriff and his deputies denied Amanda’s civil rights when they failed to arrest Fred Reer six months before he killed her, after assaulting her. Corbin and as many as 10 sheriff’s office employees are currently scheduled for depositions in that suit.
In March, Judge Jack Zouhary ordered Attorney General Dave Yost to turn over the state’s murder investigation files, including documents Yost is trying to keep sealed. Those files are expected to explain why Corbin provided a false narrative and refused to investigate Amanda’s death for years. It’s been three years since Yost and BCI learned who lied about Amanda Dean being alive, and why, but they will not provide the records about it.
There’s been speculation that Sitterly, and the AG’s office are protecting Corbin, worried about the outcome in the Dean family lawsuit, or any potential lawsuit from Tricia’s family. Judge Zouhary is the only public official demanding accountability.
Corbin’s behavior would be concerning if these were just everyday constituents. But these families belong to a club nobody wants to join. They are the “royalty” of grief: crime victims who lost loved ones under mysterious circumstances. They are mothers whom Corbin refuses to assist—tasks that fall squarely within a sheriff’s scope of authority. The same is true for Sitterly.
Hell bent on silence
Corbin and Sitterly appear intent on keeping BCI away from the Katelynn Shepard investigation. Tracy Thom, who triggered the Amanda Dean investigation in 2022 with a “Proof of Life” demand, says Corbin fears BCI because of what they uncovered last time.
For six years, Corbin pushed a false narrative that Amanda Dean was alive and safe in a shelter. State investigators disproved that claim almost immediately after taking the case in January 2023. Fred Reer was eventually convicted of her murder late last year.
To date, BCI, Assistant Attorney General Dan Kasaris, and BCI Special Agent John Saraya have all declined to say whether the state is considering charges against Corbin or his staff for their roles in delaying that investigation. Ohio AG Dave Yost also refuses to explain why Corbin caused the delay or who exactly lied about Amanda being alive. Corbin claimed a shelter director told him Amanda was safe; sources tell StayTunedSandusky that investigators found no phone records to back that up at the start of the state’s investigation.
Step Aside
Tricia’s family and Thom contend the sheriff’s office is far too compromised to conduct a competent investigation into Katelynn’s death. According to federal court records, the state continues to investigate Corbin. Tricia has every reason to doubt the him, according to Thom. Who killed Amanda Dean was never a murder mystery, in the first place. The level of incompetence it would have taken to decide there was nothing to investigate in 2017 would have been astonishingly enormous.
Last week, after Corbin “could not be located” for his appointment with Tricia, he emailed the TV-19 reporter later that day. He claimed the sheriff’s investigation was still open, but refused to comment on the family’s request for BCI to take over.
It isn’t clear, however, that anyone at the sheriff’s office is actually investigating. StayTunedSandusky learned that new evidence was sent to a detective last week, but there has been no acknowledgment from the sheriff’s office that it’s been received.
Just days before the scheduled meeting, sources also say Sitterly held a clandestine meeting with a local reporter. He allegedly told that reporter to warn Tricia and Tracy Thom that even if they asked for BCI, the Attorney General’s office might not agree to it. He also said crackpot convicted podcaster Ashli Ford might show up at the meeting, which would likely have been a victims rights law violation if Sitterly had allowed it.
Yost, his press office, Kasaris, Carol O’Brien, the AG’s chief prosecutor, and BCI Agent John Saraya all declined to say if BCI would help, if asked, or why it would refuse to help, as Sitterly suggested might happen. They also declined to speculate why Sitterly might be trying to keep BCI sidelined.
Generally — but not always — BCI must be asked by local law enforcement to investigate a local case before BCI can start a local investigation. Even though he’s already under investigation by BCI in the Dean case, Corbin, as sheriff, can prevent himself from being investigated for any potential wrongdoing in the Katelynn Shepard investigation by preventing BCI from joining, or taking over the probe. As long as Sitterly goes along, that is. They are the only two officials — technically–who have the authority to ask BCI investigate.
Sheriff Corbin and Sitterly have not asked for BCI’s help. They seem determined to keep the state out. The last time the state got involved, it led to a murder conviction and put Corbin in the bullseye. So, Tricia waits in the lobby. She waits for a phone call to reschedule that hasn’t come.
And she thinks, “Maybe tomorrow.”