This is about as f**ked up as it gets… Buckle in.
Brittany Fuhr-Storms was a young woman beginning the journey of a lifetime: pregnancy. But tragically, the 28-year-old will sadly never get to welcome her baby or live the rest of her years as she has been found dead.
On August 3, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office based out of Dayton, Ohio responded to a report of a deceased person near Fort Anthony Road in Jackson Township… And what they found when they arrived is enough to curdle anyone’s blood.
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According to a statement released on Facebook last week, “officers located a deceased adult female inside a plastic tote, discovered by individuals walking along the roadway.”
A plastic tote. Like a storage bin, the kind you’d put Christmas decorations in. That’s so AWFUL in every sense of the word. And so dehumanizing. The statement continued:
“The victim was later identified as Brittany Fuhr-Storms, a 28-year-old white female. An autopsy revealed that Brittany was pregnant at the time of her death, and tragically, the unborn child did not survive.”
What a complete tragedy.
According to eyewitnesses, the stench emanating from the tote was unbearable… One officer told news station WHIO:
“I didn’t want to open it. The smell was so bad, you know, I mean there’s a difference between dead smells and this is not a normal dead smell.”
According to the Facebook statement, Brittany’s “last known address” was determined to be in Franklin, so the MCSO contacted the Middletown Division of Police to head up a joint investigation. And it quickly yielded results.
TWO men have since been arrested: 52-year-old James R. Rothenbusch, and 47-year-old Ricky J. Sheppard. According to the MCSO, Rothenbusch “admitted to drug trafficking and stated Brittany died in his home under suspicious circumstances. He admitted to keeping her body in the residence for approximately four days before it was disposed of.”
Sheppard “admitted Brittany had died in the home and that her body remained there for nearly a week before being disposed of.” And to make matters even more heartbreaking, both admitted to knowing Fuhr-Storms was pregnant.
That’s so evil.
Rothenbusch has since been anthem with a plethora of charges, including corrupting another with drugs, trafficking in drugs, possession of drugs, and possession of drug paraphernalia — as well as failure to report crime or death.
Both men were charged with tampering with evidence and gross abuse of a corpse for what was done with the body.
WXIX reported that Brittany had been left in a shower for days before her body was discovered in the tote. They also reported “Sheppard [had] attempted to flee [before his arrest] but was quickly apprehended and detained. He later stated that the deceased died from an alleged overdose and she remained in the house for approximately a week before being removed.”
Fuhr-Storms’ sister-in-law Joria Isaacs has since set up a GoFundMe to help with funeral costs:
“My husband’s twin sister Brittany Fuhr-storms and her beautiful baby she was pregnant with were sadly found deceased recently in Dayton, Ohio. She was very loved by her family . This was very unexpected news to everyone. We are planning a memorial service for her. They have quoted it to be 3,100 . We are just needing a little help. We do appreciate everyone’s help who can. If it’s even just sharing!”
What a nightmare… Our hearts are with Brittany’s loved ones. Rest in peace.
[Images via Joria Isaacs/GoFundMe]
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