LOGAN COUNTY — UPDATE @ 4:05 p.m. (Nov. 25):
An investigation into the death of a Logan County man found shot in his home on Thanksgiving morning has prompted some neighbors to start locking their doors.
The daughter of Jeffery Brentlinger, 45, found him dead in his Zanesfield home in the 6400 block of Township Road 127 at about 11 a.m. on Thursday, Logan County Sheriff Andrew Smith said.
She told a dispatcher she returned home to find the front door open, all the lights on, mud on the floor and Brentlinger in a pool of blood, according to a 911 call to the sheriff’s office.
“Family members reported that they had left the residence early Wednesday afternoon and then returned Thursday morning,” Smith said. “So sometime between those hours is when the incident took place.”
Brentlinger’s death was caused by a gunshot, he said, and is being investigated as a homicide. No suspects had been identified in the case as of Friday afternoon, he said.
Investigators from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation were called to the scene Thursday, he said, and collected evidence. That evidence was being processed Friday, he said.
Neighbors near Brentlinger’s home said they were shocked to hear about his death.
“It’s just strange because it’s something you’d see in a movie,” Clay Bibart said. “You wouldn’t really ever see that happening around here.”
He didn’t know Brentlinger, he said, but wants the man’s family to know he’s thinking of them.
“Prayers to them, and I hope that everything gets worked out and they find who did it,” he said.
Bibart’s family doesn’t know the details of what happened, he said, but it’s made them think differently about their quiet rural neighborhood.
“It’s uneasy because it could happen to anybody,” he said. “We actually started locking our doors.”
Brentlinger’s family has been helpful with the investigation, Smith said.
“It’s certainly a difficult situation for them to be in,” he said, “and add to that a holiday experience, it made for a very difficult day.”
Brentlinger’s family declined to comment Friday afternoon.
UPDATE @ 2:20 p.m. (Nov. 25):
The daughter of a man found shot to death inside his Township Road 127 home said she had just talked to him the day before he was found.
“I just got home and my dad is unresponsive and he’s in a pool of blood,” the daughter told 911 dispatchers.
The daughter said when she arrived at the house the front door was open, all of the lights were on and there was mud all over the floor.
INITIAL REPORT:
Logan County deputies are investigating after a man was found dead from a gunshot wound in a home on Thanksgiving.
According to Logan County Sheriff Andrew Smith, Jeffrey Brentlinger, 45, was found dead in his home by a family member.
The Logan County Coroner’s Office has initially ruled Brentlinger’s death a homicide, according to a report from the Bellefontaine Examiner.
Brentlinger’s body was found at his home in the 6400 block of Township Road 127.
Smith said the sheriff’s office does not currently have any suspects.
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