Was Dean family harassed?

SANDUSKY — A self-described podcaster falsely accused family members of a murdered woman of being involved in her disappearance, harassed them and tried to extort the dead woman's sister. Amanda Dean That's according to a search warrant filed in Erie County Common Pleas Court on April 15 in State vs. Ashli Ford, a felony extortion and intimidation case against the 39-year-old Milan woman. Ford "has been harassing members of the Amanda Dean family, including (her sister) Shannon Dean and has falsely accused members of the Dean family without any credible evidence," the court filing states. Look at me Prosecutors cited a lengthy post Ford made at her Facebook page as evidence. She allegedly wrote it Nov. 17, 2023, the day after state investigators executed a search warrant at a property in Collins, where Amanda Dean was living at the time of her disappearance. Ford went to the property when news broke that agents were there with a search warrant. She spoke of the experience in her Facebook post. "Everyone's eyes were on me," Ford wrote. "People beeped and waved to me as they drove by. My phone rang constantly for interviews. I gave at least four. They called me! I did not reach out to the media." A search of news media websites in Cleveland and in Erie, Huron and Cuyahoga counties for news accounts from that period does not return with any media interviews or stories in which Ford's name or comments from her are mentioned. Later in the post, Ford defends Huron County Sheriff Todd Corbin, who, for years, did not search for Amanda Dean and claimed she was safe and alive even though she was never seen again after she was reported missing July 11, 2017. "That's the only thing that's ever kept Amanda from being found," Ford wrote. "Not Sheriff Corbin. Not the media. Not a stranger. Her mother and her sister have kept justice from Amanda. They do it every time they lie or try to shift the narrative to make themselves look better." Ford announced in the post that she was moving her content to Patreon, a digital platform where she charges a monthly fee for users to get access to her posts and podcasts. There would be a lot of information at Patreon, she said. "You will be able to go back to the beginning, hear the podcasts and review all the evidence I have collected in the case," she wrote. The search of the property on Wells Road in November netted evidence cited in an indictment returned by grand jury earlier this year charging Fred Reer, 40, with murdering Amanda Dean. Reer killed Dean the same day her family reported her missing, July 11, 2017, according to the indictment. Corbin has not offered any explanation about having been wrong about the circumstances of Dean's disappearance since Reer's arrest. Friend or foe Ford was indicted by a county grand jury in March on nine counts of felony extortion, four counts of intimidation and three counts each of telecommunications fraud and falsification. The Dean family is among six different victims listed in the indictment. The search warrant served on Ford last week allowed agents to confiscate her cell phone and computers. Prior search warrants authorized state agents to obtain records from Facebook. Dean's family asked Corbin again in November 2022 for help, but he refused and continued to claim that Amanda Dean was alive. By that time, Dean had been missing for more than five years, and nobody reported seeing her. The Register and Reflector published news articles about the family's growing frustration with Corbin, and afterward, in December 2022 Corbin turned the missing persons report over to the state for an investigation. Special Agent John Saraya with the Ohio Attorney General's Office Bureau of Criminal Investigation wrote the affidavit requesting the search warrant. He said Ford "inserted herself into the investigation," prosecutors allege in the court filing, which states she did not produce any credible evidence. Ford befriended the Dean family and got control of a Facebook page the family started to ask the public for help finding Amanda, according to the court filing. After a short time, however, communication with Ford became hostile. Shannon Dean, Amanda's sister, received a text message from Ford demanding she turn over private messages and other family information to Ford, which Ford wanted to post at her subscription-only Patreon page. Ford threatened to expose them if they did not do what she wanted. "I have a TV interview tonight to discuss this. Last chance," Ford stated in the text. "You don't need to go down too. I know what happened. I promise I'll defend you if you're honest. This is my last offer. I do not want to see you all suffer. As(k) me what I know if you don't believe me." Best defense The other victims Ford falsely accused of wrongdoing, according to the 19-count indictment, include a mayor, a judge in one of her court cases, a retired police chief, a city administrator and a law director. State vs. Ashli Ford 9 counts of felony extortion4 counts of intimidation3 counts of telecommunications fraud 3 counts of falsification She's also accused dozens of others of criminal wrongdoing without providing information to substantiate her claims, according to police records, including police officers, relatives and other private individuals and professionals. Ford was not contacted for this story. She has not responded to questions from the Register in the past. She contacted the Erie County Sheriff's Office and complained she was being harassed when a written inquiry was sent to her. Ford has three court cases pending. In Norwalk Municipal Court, she faces two falsification charges. In Erie County, she has the 19-count indictment and a filing for a civil protection order against her still pending. If convicted in the felony case, she could be sentenced to years in prison. She has triggered delays in the proceedings, first telling the courts she was seeking legal counsel. But after being briefly represented, she has now exercised her right to defend herself going forward. At court hearings last week, Ratliff Law Office from Marion requested leave from representing Ford. "There has been a breakdown in communication between counsel and Ms. Ford, which makes it impossible for counsel to continue to represent Ms. Ford properly and effectively," the request states. "The defendant has not paid a retainer fee to this firm and has informed the Ratliff law office that she is unable to pay any money in a timely manner." The Ratliff firm made several motions on behalf of Ford in her pending cases before withdrawing. It represented her for about two weeks. Since her arrest on March 8, Ford has used social media, a GoFundMe account, Venmo and cash apps to raise money to pay attorneys. She was released from custody on bond but is required to wear an ankle monitor.