BUTLER COUNTY — Two men are now facing federal charges in the death of a pregnant woman whose body was found in rural Montgomery County.
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Records filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio show that Ricky Sheppard, 47, and Walter Wade, 44, have both been charged with:
- One count of Conspiracy to obstruct justice by concealing an object
- One count of Concealing an object to impair its availability for an official proceeding
- One count of Accessory after the fact
Sheppard and Wade are charged in the death of Brittany Fuhr-Storms, 28.
Federal court records indicate Fuhr-Storms and her unborn baby died on or around July 18, 2025, due to a fentanyl overdose.
An autopsy conducted at the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office found that the baby had a “gestational age of 23-21 weeks” and was delivered post-mortem.
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Sheppard and Wade were facing state charges of gross abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence, but those have been dropped.
James Rothenbusch was also charged in this case.
He pleaded guilty to one count of complicity to tampering with evidence in January and has since been sentenced to more than three years in prison, according to Butler County Common Pleas Court records.
A joint investigation between the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office and Middletown Police led investigators to an apartment in Middletown, where investigators believe Fuhr-Storms visited two men and later died.
A search warrant was executed at Rotherbusch’s apartment. He was detained at the scene.
While investigators were in his residence, they saw items related to the death investigation, which led to a second search warrant.
The search warrant shows what police found around the apartment — a suspected blood stain on the carpet, a blue tarp, screws, and a set of towels that match the description of the ones found with Fuhr-Storm’s body.
While being interviewed by investigators, Rotherbusch said Fuhr-Storms had died under suspicious circumstances in his home.
He also admitted to keeping her body in the residence for around four days.
A second suspect, Sheppard, was later located in Middletown.
He told investigators that Fuhr-Storm died in the home, but he said she stayed in the house for nearly a week before being left in Jackson Twp.
“He (Sheppard) later stated that the deceased died from a drug overdose and she remained in the house for approximately a week,” Deputy Chief Ryan Morgan, of Middletown Police, previously said.
Both Rotherbusch and Sheppard admitted to knowing she was pregnant, investigators confirmed.
A third suspect, Wade, was arrested and charged in this case in December, according to a previous News Center 7 report.
We will continue to follow this story.
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