Crime & Safety

UPDATE: Man in Custody After Woman Found Dead, Stuffed in Closet

Police received a report of a missing woman at around 10 a.m. Thursday. They checked the apartment at 13531 Detroit Avenue and found the woman dead.

Story updated at 9:10 p.m.

A man is in custody as police investigate the “suspicious” death of a woman found stuffed in the closet of an apartment on Detroit Avenue on Thursday morning.

But that’s about all police are saying right now.

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Police received a report of a missing woman at around 10 a.m. Thursday. They checked the apartment at 13531 Detroit Avenue.

“We went to her apartment to check on her, and we found her deceased in the closet of the apartment,” said Lt. Frank Eschweiler, but he wouldn't say how she died.

Find out what's happening in Lakewoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The identity of the woman has not been confirmed, and police aren’t releasing the woman’s name until her next of kin has been notified.

Mayor Michael Summers, who is also the director of public safety in Lakewood, said that there is a man in custody.

“Details are unfolding,” he said, adding that no charges have yet been been filed. “Detectives are interviewing the suspect right now." 

Summers said that the crime “would appear to a domestic situation,” but declined to comment on the case further, pending the investigation.

“The police are doing their job, they’re very thorough and very quick,” Summers added.

Eschweiler said the death is being investigated as “suspicious,” but wouldn’t elaborate.

The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations and the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s office are assisting in the investigation, Eschweiler added.

Police are expected to release more information on Friday.

This was the second dead body discovered in Lakewood in two days. A man was found dead near the trail at the north end of Lakewood Park on Wednesday.

“That appears to have been (a death of) natural causes,” Summers said. “These cases are not related at all.


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