Examining the death of Daniel Violette

WILLARD — Nearly 27 years after 17-year-old Daniel "Danny" Violette Jr. was found dead in a cornfield outside Willard, new attention is turning toward a case that has remained officially unresolved since 1998. Violette was last known to be alive on Oct. 24, 1998. Several days later, on Nov. 4, farmer John Wiles was harvesting corn on Townline Road 12 when he stopped his combine after noticing something in the rows. "It didn't look right," Wiles told deputies at the time. "When I got out to check, I realized it was a person." The body was identified as Violette, a Willard High School junior who lived less than a mile away. An autopsy determined the cause of death was asphyxia, but the manner of death — and if potential foul play was involved — was ruled undetermined, a classification that has never changed. The original investigation left key gaps Huron County Sheriff's Office investigators interviewed dozens of people in the days following the discovery, including friends who had seen Violette the night before he disappeared from public view, according to department police records. Among them was a classmate who told detectives Violette appeared disoriented and sick after a gathering at a friend's home where the teens ingested LSD, commonly known as "acid," a psychedelic drug. Violette was violently seizing and vomiting, according to this witness, who was a juvenile at the time of the incident. "Blood and vomit were coming out, and I started trying to help him," he said. "We were trying to help him," the teen said in his Nov. 21, 1998, interview. "His eyes were rolling back in his head." Others described his condition differently. One teen told investigators the next morning, "He's all right … he's sitting there, he's talking," offering a sharply contrasting account. The investigation also included statements from another witness, Charlotte Slone, whose home Violette visited that night. She told detectives she saw him on her living room floor and asked whether he was okay. "He looked up at me and kind of smiled," Slone said, acknowledging that she told the teens not to call for help, saying she "didn't want authorities at the house that night." When pressed by investigators later in the interview, she admitted Violette's condition may have been more precarious than she originally admitted. "I mean, he did have some kind of orange, like water coming out of his mouth," she said. Forensic reviews raise additional questions The original autopsy was performed in Lucas County by Dr. Diane Scala-Barnett, who later told investigators the injuries suggested only two possibilities. "Danny hung himself and was brought to the field, or he was killed and brought to the field," according to Danielle Allen, who represents "Justice for Danny," a social media page advocating for further investigation of Violette's death. Scala-Barnett also noted she had never been provided crime-scene photographs, calling that "abnormal." Years later, independent forensic pathologist Dr. Karen Looman reviewed the autopsy material and described the neck hemorrhage as "a very suspicious finding." Looman wrote that the injuries were "most likely consistent with ligature strangulation, and I don't believe this is a self-inflicted death." A separate forensic analysis was conducted by Dr. Neal Haskell, a nationally recognized forensic entomologist. Haskell concluded that insect activity indicated Violette had been dead for the full 11 days after he was last seen. Haskell's findings supported the timeline but did not resolve how or when Violette arrived at the location where he was found. After deputies cleared the crime scene and began the investigation, they were called back out to the field on Nov. 5 when the same farmer reported finding clothing and other personal effects near where the body had been discovered. Deputies documented Violette's shirt, wallet and torn pieces of currency in the field the day after his body was recovered. Family never stopped asking questions For Violette's family, the lack of answers has remained painful. His brother, Drew Violette, has continued to lead the push for renewed attention to the case. "We've always believed there were questions that weren't fully answered," he said. "After this long, we just want to understand what happened." That persistence has led to new interest from outside groups. The true-crime podcast "Culpable" devoted its most recent season to the case. The Tiffin University Cold Case Fellowship has also examined portions of the record as part of its academic partnership with law-enforcement agencies. People can listen to the podcast on platforms like Amazon Prime, Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Renewed police involvement Huron County Sheriff Detective James Gilliam is officially investigating the case. According to Gilliam, the case is challenging due to the age of leads, deaths of witnesses and the natural regression of memories, but he is determined to find closure for the family and community. "It's challenging when you have a case this old, but the family deserves answers, and that is what I am determined to give them," he said. Gilliam is requesting assistance from the public and asking anyone with information about the case to contact the Huron County Sheriff's Department. Anyone with information can call 419-668-6912. The Reflector has obtained interviews, forensic summaries and investigative records that were not widely reported in 1998. The materials offer a clearer picture of the timeline leading up to Violette's disappearance from public view, the discovery of his body and the early investigative steps that followed. Beginning next week, the Reflector will publish a multi-part series examining the available evidence, the timeline of events and the renewed efforts to seek clarity in a case that has remained open for nearly three decades. As his brother Drew said, "Somebody knows something, and after all this time, we just want the truth."