A sheriff in central Ohio says a tarp and trash bags were taken from the home of a 13-year-old girl who was found bound and gagged in the basement of a man's home about 10 miles away.
The girl had disappeared Wednesday along with her mother, brother and the mother's friend. Authorities say she was found Sunday in the Mount Vernon home of Matthew J. Hoffman, who is being held on $1 million bond on a kidnapping charge. The other three remain missing.
Knox County Sheriff David Barber said Tuesday that the items found in the girl's home in Howard are significant to the investigation. He also says a Wal-Mart receipt listing tarps and trash bags has been found, but would not say where or when.
Barber says Hoffman is on suicide watch after giving certain "indications" to staff.
Investigators have acknowledged hope is dimming that the girl's mother, brother and family friend will be found alive.
"You have to be realistic that there's a possibility that these folks are dead," Barber said Monday.
Police on Sunday rescued 13-year-old Sarah Maynard from the basement of Hoffman's home, then launched a search of a nearby lake for Maynard's mother, 32-year-old Tina Herrmann; the woman's 10-year-old son, Kody Maynard; and her 41-year-old friend, Stephanie Sprang.
All four vanished last Wednesday from a Howard, Ohio, home that police say was splattered with blood.
Sprang's father, Steve Thompson, said Tuesday he's not listening to the pessimistic possibility outlined by the sheriff.
“We are still looking for you, hon," Thompson said to his missing daughter on NBC's TODAY show. "We are hoping we can find you, Tina and Kody well. Everyone is behind you.… We are just hoping and praying that we find you soon. I’m hoping that all of you can feel my thoughts and prayers.”
Hoffman, who's been charged with one count of kidnapping, appeared in Mount Vernon Municipal Court on Tuesday through a video link from the jail, where he was wearing a green sleeveless shirt that revealed muscular arms. He mostly stared straight ahead, and yawned at one point.
He did not enter a plea. The judge set bond at $1 million and assigned a public defender to represent Hoffman. Authorities said more charges were expected.
It wasn't clear how well Hoffman knew the four missing people, but the sheriff suggested that the defendant had been watching them.
"They knew Hoffman or Hoffman made himself known to them; he acquainted himself with the family whether they knew he was acquainting himself with them or not," Barber said.
Thompson said he did not know Hoffman and had no idea how he became connected with his daughter and Herrmann.
"From all indications, when I'm talking to neighbors and so forth, it's the type of person that was — I don't think either one of the girls would have been really talking with him or just hanging out with him," Thompson told TODAY.
Authorities first questioned Hoffman on Thursday, the day after Herrmann failed to show up for work at Dairy Queen. Police found him sitting in his car near a bike trail opposite property owned by Kenyon College, near where Herrmann's pickup truck was found, Barber said.
The sheriff didn't say what later led investigators to Hoffman's two-story, tan-sided house in Mount Vernon, where authorities spent Monday scouring bike paths and riverbanks. A search team pulled a car and an SUV from a lake near Hoffman's home, but investigators say they're not likely related to the disappearances.
Authorities were to continue the search on Tuesday.
One of Hoffman's neighbors, Donna Davis, described him to WBNS-TV as "a weirdo," saying "he would sit and watch people" from a hammock near his house.
"He would always walk over to the gravel pit with bags and sometimes not bring them back. Sometimes he would," Davis said. The former gravel pit is now a park, and is also one of the locations where authorities carried out an extensive search on Monday, WBNS reported.
Hoffman's mother and stepfather live less than a mile away from Herrmann's home in a lakeside community north of Columbus. Hoffman last lived there two years ago, his mother said, before declining to comment further.
A man identifying himself as the stepfather described the suspect as a "loner" to the Columbus Dispatch, but also said that deputies told his family not to comment publicly on the case.
Hoffman was sentenced to eight years in prison in Colorado in 2001 for arson and other charges. Authorities allowed him to move to Ohio in 2007 after he was released on parole, which ended about a month ago. He had paid about $4,800 toward $2.06 million in restitution, Colorado court system spokesman Jon Sarche said.
Knox County Prosecutor John Thatcher referred to the Colorado case when arguing for the $1 million bond.
"Based on the seriousness of the charges, the fact the defendant — he's only recently returned from Colorado — and other than his mother and stepfather has minimal ties to Knox County, he presents a flight risk," Thatcher said.
Public Defender Bruce Malek argued that Hoffman owns real estate in the county, has a father and sister in northeast Ohio and is employed as a tree trimmer, but it's seasonal work. "He is not currently employed, but he does have business connections here in Knox County," he said.
A message seeking further comment was left for Malek on Tuesday afternoon.
Authorities first questioned Hoffman on Thursday, the day after Herrmann failed to show up for work at Dairy Queen. Police found him sitting in his car near a bike trail opposite property owned by Kenyon College, near where Herrmann's pickup truck was found, Barber said.
The sheriff didn't say what later led investigators to Hoffman's two-story, tan-sided house. Authorities spent Monday scouring bike paths and riverbanks. A search team pulled a car and an SUV from a lake near Hoffman's home, but investigators say they're not likely related to the disappearances.
Barber declined to comment on whether Sarah was assaulted or the details of her capture. She was released from a hospital and was staying with relatives.
"She is a very brave little girl," Barber said. "Under the circumstances, a 13-year-old girl being held captive for four days by a total stranger ... I would call her the epitome of bravery."
At the Columbus home of the girl's paternal grandmother, Patricia Baker, a younger woman answered the door on Tuesday and declined to comment.
June Chadwell, 66, who said she had lived across the street from Baker for 37 years, said she had seen no sign of the girl but said the child's father, Larry Maynard, lived at the home with Baker and that he was seen sitting on a deck outside the home on Monday.