John Jefferson
Left inset: Devin O’Brien (Erie County Jail). Right: the shirtless suspect is patted down by law enforcement (WJW).
A 29-year-old Sandusky, Ohio, man identified as the 911 caller who reported a 3-year-old girl missing, claiming she vanished along with a dog after he took a nap, is now accused of strangling the child to death.
The Sandusky Police Department responded to Devin O’Brien’s mobile home park residence on Venice Road after he called 911 around 9 p.m. Thursday and said his girlfriend’s child was nowhere to be found. In the recording, part of which was aired by local Fox affiliate WJW, a man can be heard telling a 911 dispatcher that he “ran around our neighborhood and I cannot find her anywhere.”
“OK, how old is she?” the dispatcher asked.
“She’s three,” the caller said.
“She’s three?” the dispatcher followed up.
“Yes, she’s three,” the caller confirmed.
According to authorities, that 911 caller reporting the 3-year-old missing was O’Brien. He allegedly claimed that both the girl and his dog must have been “taken” by a “deadbeat drug guy” while he was taking a half an hour nap.
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“I need to report … I believe my girlfriend’s daughter and dog have been taken,” O’Brien said, the Sandusky Register reported, noting that the defendant has had mental health struggles and worked in multiple different places since he graduated from high school. “I took a 30-minute nap, and I just woke up. Nowhere. I have searched our entire home.”
Later on during the call, O’Brien allegedly revealed that his girlfriend was at work in Cleveland and that she and the girl had moved into his residence recently.
“I’m thinking should I drive around and look. I don’t know,” O’Brien reportedly said. “They just moved in with me. There’s a field near here.”
Thereafter, cops arrived on scene to take a look around. A short time later, investigators found the 3-year-old dead near the home.
Sandusky Police Chief Jared Oliver reportedly said Friday that an autopsy found the victim “suffered some blunt force trauma injuries,” that she “died from strangulation,” and that there were “signs of sexual assault.”
While Erie County jail records show that O’Brien was booked Friday without bond in the murder case, Sandusky Municipal Court records say an arraignment is set for 9 a.m. on Monday.
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