With a population of just over 21,000, Chillicothe, OH is a small town you’ve probably never heard of. However, the new Spike TV docuseries Gone: The Forgotten Women of Ohio plans to change that. The docuseries, which premiered July 22, sheds light on the 6 Chillicothe women who disappeared over a 16-month period. Before you tune into the 8-part series, here are 5 things you need to know about Gone: The Forgotten Women of Ohio.
It’s the brainchild of an award winning American documentary filmmaker.
Joe Berlinger, an Academy and Emmy award nominated documentarian and Emmy and Peabody-winning filmmaker, teamed up with Spike to bring light to the disappearances of the six Chillicothe women. He has also received awards for the National Board of Review, the Independent Spirit Awards, and the Directors Guild of America. He has had five documentaries premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.
When asked why he decided to do the docuseries, Berlinger stated, “As a father of daughters of my own, I could not help but be drawn to wanting to help solve this mystery and to find out why these families felt that they were not getting the justice they deserved.
Some of the women have been found…dead.
Of the six women profiled, four have been found. They include Tiffany Sayre, 26, whose body was discovered in a creek bed in a neighboring county just over a month after she disappeared in 2015. Tameka Lynch, 30, was also found in a creek three weeks after she disappeared in 2014. Shasta Himelrick, a pregnant 20-year-old, was found in the Scioto River the day after she was last seen. Although her death was ruled a suicide, the family believes there is no way she would have killed herself. Finally, Timberly Claytor, 38, was found the day after she disappeared near a vacant shop in 2015.
Charlotte Trego and Wanda Lemons are still missing.
The investigation remains active.
While Timberly Claytor’s case is considered closed, the other five investigations are still in the hands of the Missing Women’s Task Force, which consists of officials from the FBI, Ohio’s Bureau of Investigation, the Chillicothe Police Department, and the Ross County Sheriff’s Office. In July 2016, Jason McCrary was found guilty of Timberly’s murder. He was sentenced to 28 years to life. There have been allegations made that law enforcement has “dragged their heels” on solving the crimes due to the victims’ history of drug use or prostitution
The women were familiar with each other.
It’s been established that the women at least knew of each other and shared a similar lifestyle. (Trego and Lynch were good friends.) The area is plagued by an opiate problem and all of the women had a history of drug abuse, though some, including Sayre and Trego, were on a rehab facility’s waiting list when they went missing. Law enforcement also reports that the women were involved in prostitution, though not necessarily at the time they went missing.
Those involved in the investigation aren’t particularly happy with the docuseries.
When asked about the value of the docuseries, Ross County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy and spokesperson for the Missing Women’s Task Force said, “I don’t think it’s a positive or a negative. They are for their own purposes. So far we still haven’t received anything that’s led us to the two that are still unknown (Trego and Lemons).” Thanks to the new series, law enforcement has been prepping for an increased number of tips.
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