Missing Ohio campers found shot to death in separate spots; suspect arrested

MORGAN COUNTY, Ohio (TCD) --

An Ohio man was arrested after the bodies of two missing campers were found in a wooded area on Tuesday.

A woman contacted the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office on Monday, July 26, to report her son and her son’s girlfriend, both Circleville residents, were missing.

Steven Sturgill Jr., 36, and Chrystal Burchett, 39, had gone camping in Morgan County about three weeks ago, the sheriff’s office said, and had not been heard from since.

Morgan County deputies and Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources personnel launched a search for the couple in the Equine Area of the Appalachian Hills Wildlife Area, where they found a vehicle and trailer belonging to the couple.

A further search of the surrounding woods found the bodies of Sturgill and Burchett in separate locations Tuesday morning, the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office said. Their deaths were determined to be homicides.

Licking County Coroner’s Office autopsies found Sturgill and Burchett were both shot to death, the Columbus Dispatch reports.

A male suspect was taken into custody, later identified as Sidney resident Brian Jason Weimert, 43.

Weimert was charged with two counts of aggravated murder and was held on $1 million bond in Southeastern Ohio Regional Jail in Nelsonville, the Sidney Daily News reports.

No further details of how the suspect and the victims knew each other or came into contact were released.

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