Now that the remains of a missing Eaton woman have been positively identified, authorities are focusing their investigation on what led to her death.
On Thursday, officials with the Montgomery County Coroner's office said they still do not have an exact cause of death, but can say that Aria Spradling suffered no skeletal trauma.
Vandalia police believe Spradling's body had been in Art Van Atta Park for "quite some time," Lt. Dan Swafford said Wednesday. The 20-year-old was reported missing to Eaton police by her mother, Melissa Spradling, on Oct. 16.
"She was laying next to a tree that was already knocked down...There was some foliage over the top of her, but it wasn't like she was buried," Swafford said. The remains, which were in a state of decomposition, were discovered Monday.
The cause and manner of death has not been determined, but Ken Betz, director of the Montgomery County Coroner's Office, said right now the death is being labeled as suspicious.
Spradling left her daughter with her mother on Sept. 29 before going to work and never returned home, according to a police report. According to the report, "Melissa Spradling has not heard from her since she called from work on that day," and "Melissa Spradling said Aria usually calls every day to check on her daughter."
Wednesday, Melissa Spradling said she has not slept since Monday.
"From the beginning I've known my baby girl was in need of help and in trouble," she told News Center 7's Yuna Lee on Wednesday.
Aria Spradling was a dancer at The Harem Gentleman's Club, 5825 N. Dixie Drive, Harrison Twp. She was last seen at the club, according to Eaton Police Chief Chad DePew. Police will be reviewing the club's surveillance camera footage to see if there is anything that will help in their investigation, he said.
There is an arrest warrant for Spradling filed in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court. She apparently had not been seen by her probation officer since Sept. 25. Spradling had been sentenced to treatment in lieu of conviction in 2011 stemming from an indictment on a theft charge.
"There is some speculation that she has had a history of drug use," DePew said.
Eaton police also are looking into whether Spradling was the same woman mentioned in a Dayton police report about an incident Sept. 30 on Germantown Pike. That incident involved what witnesses told police was a possible rape situation involving a naked female and several males.
"What I have been told was that there was a female running naked in the road and three (males) in a minivan pulled her into the van and took off with her and her clothing was apparently left on the street," DePew said.
Dayton police were able to retrieve some clothing left behind from that incident, and that clothing was handed over to the Miami Valley Regional Crime Laboratory, according to DePew. "They are still working on trying to match that up to see if there is a connection there," he said.
Ken Betz, director of the crime lab, said on Thursday that the testing of that clothing is not complete.
Anyone with information about the Sept. 30 case or Spradling should contact Eaton police at (937) 456-6272 or Vandalia police at (937) 898-5868.
A candlelight service in honor of Spradling will be held on Sunday from 2 to 4 p.m. at Art Van Atta Park. Funeral arrangements are pending the completion of the coroner's investigation.
