Ohio teen texts 'I'm scared' to mother, found dead

Just before Alesha Bell disappeared, she texted her mom and told her that she was scared. Now, Ohio authorities have confirmed that they have found Bell: they discovered her bones in the fire pit of a house connected to drug trafficking.

TheGrio Staff

Sep 6, 2015

Bell’s mother, Tiffany Knepper, had become frantically worried about her daughter when she received this text message from her: “Mom, if I make it home, I need you. I’m scared.” Knepper tried to call her phone to respond, but all calls went straight to voicemail, which meant, Knepper said, that it was either turned off or had lost its battery life.

After the cryptic message, Bell was reported missing in July. She had disappeared after leaving Knepper’s house on foot to visit a nearby relative.

It was not until August 20 that a break in the case came, when a raid in Roaming Shores by narcotics agents turned up bones in a backyard fire pit.

Authorities then arrested 40-year-old James Brooks of Rome, who is charged with abuse of a corpse, tampering with evidence, drug trafficking and weapons violations.

The bones were positively identified as Bell’s, and her death was ruled a homicide, though Ashtabula County Coroner Pamela Lancaster said that the matter was still being investigated and that they did not yet know the cause of death.

It’s a tragic ending to the case, one which Ashtabula County Prosecutor Nicholas Iarucci said “is beyond all sensibilities.”