Victim of homicide?

NORWALK — The search for Amanda Dean became a homicide investigation earlier this year, according to records the Register obtained on Tuesday from the Ohio Attorney General's Office. Dean There also is a named suspect, according to the written request made by Huron County prosecutor James Joel Sitterly, who asked the attorney general to appoint a state prosecutor to oversee the investigation. The name of the suspect is redacted from the record, however, under a discretionary exemption allowed by state law that lets law enforcement officials withhold the name of an uncharged suspect. Sitterly and the attorney general's office are not required to withhold the suspect's name. They chose to withhold it. Sitterly asked the attorney general in April to assist with the investigation, and assistant attorney general Dan Kasaris has been secretly acting as special prosecutor. Sitterly and his office have ignored public records requests in the past and in numerous instances don't respond properly to them. It's unknown if the office is simply unfamiliar or unaware of its responsibilities under the state's Public Records Act or if it is willfully violating the state law. Last week, the Register made a records request to the attorney general for assignment records after obtaining documents from Norwalk Municipal Court that listed Kasaris as the prosecutor who requested a search warrant to dig at 1744 Wells Road in Collins. The court sealed the search warrant, however, keeping secret what state agents hope to find at the property, which was the last known address for Amanda Dean. Dean, who was 36 when she disappeared in July 2017, was living in a small outbuilding on the property with a boyfriend who had allegedly physically abused her in the past. There was never any search for Amanda by authorities after her family reported her missing more than six years ago because Huron County Sheriff Todd Corbin, at that time, said he spoke with a director of a shelter who told him Amanda was safe. She has never been seen or heard from since. But, earlier this year, Corbin was still contending that she was alive and well. The sheriff initially refused to restart the search for Amanda when the family asked him to restart it late last year, but he later relented after the Register reported about the family's concerns. State agents were at the Wells Road property one day last week and again on Monday, digging in different areas on the property. It appeared that some items were removed, but all records of what was removed are sealed under court order for three months. The attorney general's Bureau of Criminal Investigation routinely conducts secret investigations, including one earlier this year to determine if a Huron County deputy had falsified his time cards. In addition, the bureau has, for years, been investigating an alleged serial rapist from Ottawa County but never presented any evidence to a grand jury. Attorney General David Yost does not answer questions, and a spokesman for his office rarely provides any information beyond stating that he has no comment. The suspected serial rapist was killed in an accident last month, and the bureau continues to withhold public records related to its investigation of the man.