COVENTRY TWP.: Divers continued searching for bodies and stolen property in North Reservoir on Friday, but bones found on a small island in the Portage Lakes turned out to be from an animal.
Inspector Bill Holland of the Summit County Sheriff’s Office said divers from the Akron Fire Department, acting on a tip, began searching a section of the reservoir Thursday night. Divers from the South Summit Dive Team continued the search Friday with sonar.
Holland said a tipster indicated there could be bodies, stolen safes and weapons in the water.
With the unusually warm weather, at least three squads were able to dive and found a piece of plywood and an anchor, Holland said. A thick layer of muck at the bottom of the reservoir made searching difficult.
Investigators from the Summit County Medical Examiner’s Office collected bones found on the tiny island and determined that they were not human remains, Holland said.
The search took place near a home on Dollar Drive that has been the focus of a drug and kidnapping investigation in which four people were arrested in December.
Holland said he could not say whether there was any connection between the search and the December arrests.
The South Summit Dive Team, made up of members of the Coventry, New Franklin and Green fire departments, was scheduled for a training session Friday on North Reservoir, Holland said, so the divers took part in the search rather than training.
Holland said officials were happy that they did not find human remains on the island.
“We are going to search until we are satisfied there is nothing out here to find,” Holland said.
Jim Carney can be reached at 330-996-3576 or at jcarney@thebeaconjournal.com.
