Amber Eichner case: Husband charged with murder after a body found in Toledo back yard

TOLEDO, Ohio (TCD) --

A week after an unidentified woman’s remains were found buried in a back yard in Toledo, a missing woman’s husband pleaded not guilty to her murder and other charges in court.

Amber Eichner, 34, was last seen some time between April 14 and April 17, 2021. She was reported missing by family members on April 23, two days after her husband, 43-year-old John Eichner, dropped off the couple’s children at a relative’s house, the Toledo Blade reports.

Police said John Eichner took the couple’s four daughters, between the ages of 8 and 13, to Amber’s family members in Tennessee on April 21. WTOL-TV reports Eichner dropped the kids off with six bags of clothes, then left.

Police said an unidentified South Toledo resident contacted them about John Eichner, telling police she had recently given John permission to bury a dead dog in her back yard. The witness told police she later learned Amber Eichner was missing, and reported the incident to police.

Police excavated the back yard of the residence and found a woman’s human remains on Monday, April 26.

An autopsy revealed the victim was strangled to death. The remains have not been positively identified yet, but investigators believe the body is Amber Eichner.

John Eichner was arrested on April 27.

Three cars were towed to the Toledo Police Department's impound lot as part of the investigation, WTOL reports.

John Eichner pleaded not guilty Monday, May 3, to charges of murder; aggravated murder; abuse of a corpse; tampering with evidence; possession of criminal tools; and money laundering. Eichner originally also faced child endangerment counts, but those charges were dropped, according to Ottawa County booking records.

The Toledo Blade reports Judge Bruce Winters accepted a prosecutorial recommendation that Eichner be held on $1.5 million bond. Winters also continued an order for Eichner to have no contact with Amber’s relatives or the couple’s four daughters. Eichner was held in the Ottawa County Jail.

The Port Clinton News Herald reports the investigation was conducted by the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office and the Genoa Police Department, with assistance from the Ottawa County Prosecutor's Office, the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, Toledo Police Department, and the FBI.

The Port Clinton News Herald reports Genoa Police responded to a domestic trouble call at the couple’s Genoa residence on E. 4th Street on March 19, 2021.

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