Mansfield police reopen Rebekah Leicy case, investigate connection to Shawn Grate

One morning last week – while her abductor, 40-year-old Shawn Grate, slept in the same room – a woman quietly loosened ties binding her to a bed, reached for Grate’s phone, and called 911. Grate said he returned to her shallow grave a year after the murder to burn her body to ensure his DNA wouldn’t be found, police say.

Grate was charged with the murders of two women in Ashland.

Her hushed 911 call on September 13 led to his arrest and the shocking discovery of two bodies inside a vacant Ashland home.

After arresting Grate, local police recovered the remains of three women: Two of their bodies were found in an abandoned home Grate had been squatting in; and hours later, police found a third body, which had been dumped not far from the deserted home.

The police department is working with the Richland County Prosecutor’s Office to determine if Grate is involved in Leicy’s disappearance or death. Authorities believe Grate also strangled Rebekah Leicy, whose remains were found in a field in Ashland in March 2015, reports the Washington Post.

When Ashland police officers came to the victim’s rescue after 20 minutes.

“He’s obviously a serial killer”, Bailey said.

While the definition of serial killer can vary, the deaths of five OH women recently linked to Shawn Grate leave little doubt he’d deserve the notorious title if convicted of them.

“We can see where it happened and where it took place”, Theresa Bender said.

“(There’s) nothing new yet”, Bailey said, adding detectives will soon be meeting with investigators from other agencies, including BCI, to exchange notes about Grate. “He (Grate) killed five people and there’s a string of people missing down there (in Chillicothe)”, Bailey said.

Bailey said that as Ashland Police were putting Grate back in his cell after an interrogation last week, they asked him if there was anything else. Grate said his mother was upset that she never received her magazines. “It’s hard to believe there aren’t other bodies out there”, Bailey said. Grate said he did not remember the date or the woman’s name.

Stacey Stanley, left, and Elizabeth Griffith, (Facebook) Elizabeth Griffith, killed by serial killer Shawn Grate.

Grate has a lengthy arrest record, mostly for domestic abuse.

No charges have been filed yet in the deaths in Richland and Marion counties.

In 2010, she said, he beat her badly, breaking her hand, trying to strangle her, holding her down in the bathtub before she managed to get away from him, permanently, Hildreth told Cleveland 19.