Akron police are investigating the deaths of two men whose bodies were found bound and gagged in the woods Friday, and Copley police are investigating a third death of a man who was also found bound and gagged not far from the Akron scene.
Akron police said a man in a U-Haul saw the men around 8:35 a.m. in a wooded area within two feet of the road between Cordova Avenue and an I-77 barrier near Redbush Road and called authorities.
The deaths are being investigated as a double homicide, but the circumstances around the incident are not yet known, according to a release from the police department.
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Copley Police Chief Michael Mier said a passerby driving on Wright Road around 8:50 a.m. Friday called police saying they thought they saw a body.
Officers found a deceased adult man who was bound and gagged. While waiting for the Summit County Medical Examiner’s Office to arrive, Copley police learned Akron had a similar case involving two men who were found deceased, bound and gagged.
Wright Road is less than 2 miles away from where Cordova Avenue and Redbush Road meet.
“It all appears to be related, so we’re working with Akron,” Mier said.
As of 11:52 a.m., police reported that Wright Road between Jacoby Road and Collier Road is closed.
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Miller said officers did a canvas of the area on foot, going door to door.
Richard Rachel, who lives on Redbush Road, heard about the bodies when he was leaving to pick up his kids.
“It’s a quiet neighborhood with mostly elderly people,” he said. “It’s definitely out of the ordinary.”
“You have to have been around here to know about that road is there,” said another resident, Lila McElrafth. “To hear about something like this in this neighborhood is a shocker.”
The Summit County Medical Examiner’s Office will conduct an autopsy. The victims are not yet being named pending identification and family notification.