Tip line problems persist

NORWALK — Callers to a crime tip line continue to be frustrated weeks after it was first reported they weren't getting calls back. A woman spoke to the Register on Wednesday said she called the tip line managed by the state but gave up out of frustration after getting placed on hold twice with nobody picking up. Amanda Dean Provided She was able to leave a message at 1-855-BCI-OHIO the third time she called, but nobody called her back. "'Do your job,' is all I could think when nobody picked up and they didn't call back," she said. The woman said she has information about the disappearance of Amanda Dean, 42, who vanished more than 5½ years ago. She is the second person in recent weeks to complain about the tip line not being monitored, or not getting a call back. A man who said he called several times but didn't get a call back until after a third party intervened was similarly frustrated. A spokesman for Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, who is the boss at the state crime lab, said the tip line is monitored but he offered no explanation for why there have been complaints. Getting through The woman who spoke with the Register said she was finally able to talk with the state investigator assigned to Dean's case after a third party provided her with his direct line phone number. The conversation with the special agent didn't give her any confidence, however, that a legitimate investigation is being conducted. "He said he's done some door-knocking but nobody answers the door," she recalled him telling her. "He hasn't interviewed any of the people who were the last people to see Amanda alive. 'Park your car and wait there,' I said. 'Don't just knock on the door.'" The state crime lab special agent was assigned the missing persons case in December, but there's no indication he's spoken with any of the people who lived on the same property where Amanda lived with a boyfriend who, according to past sheriff's reports, had been physically abusive toward her. Small out building at property in Collins, Ohio, where Amanda Dean stayed with a boyfriend, who according to sheriff's deputy reports was physically abusive toward Amanda. Register There are at least three people the agent should talk with who were the last ones to see her alive, the woman said, but he didn't give her any indication he intended to interview them. "He should have already talked with them," she said. Pick up the phone The Register made a public records request on Wednesday for the guideline used to monitor the tip line. The investigator who talked with the woman got frustrated when she mentioned she had gotten his number from a third party. "He got pretty defensive," she said. The state crime lab agreed to search for Amanda after the Register reported in December that the Huron County Sheriff's office was initially refusing to re-open the case. Dean was first reported missing in July 2017, but Sheriff Todd Corbin closed out the investigation after just one day after getting assurances from a domestic violence advocacy agency that Dean was safe.