News conference, or dog and pony show for hiding police incompetence?

Attorney general, prosecutors and Cleveland Missing won't talk about long delay before Amanda Dean investigation got started

NORWALK — For 5½ years, the investigation into Amanda Dean’s disappearance didn’t just stall—it was non-existent. Now that Fred Reer Jr. has been sentenced to 14 years for her death, a new question looms: Who is responsible for the half-decade-plus of silence?

Newburg Heights Police Chief John Majoy and Sylvia Colon, both board directors with Cleveland Missing, refused to take questions about the Amanda Dean murder investigation being derailed for 5½ years. Colon later threatened to have a reporter removed from the courthouse after he asked the question. (Screenshot from video/Matt Westerhold)

On Wednesday, StayTunedSandusky,com sent a formal demand for interviews to the highest levels of Ohio law enforcement, including Attorney General Dave Yost, Huron County Sheriff Todd Corbin, and BCI Special Agent John Saraya.

The goal is simple: Transparency.

At a news conference Monday, officials suggested that the long delay in starting an investigation was not a “proper” concern for the public. We disagree. A murder investigation was derailed, and the residents of Huron County deserve to know if that derailment was a result of incompetence, negligence, or a criminal dereliction of duty.

Questions they won’t answer