Ohio Man Leads Police To Dismembered Body Of Missing Team
A disturbing chain of events stretching across state lines has led to federal charges against a 39-year-old Ohio man in connection with the disappearance and death of Indiana teenager Hailey Buzbee.
Tyler Thomas was charged Tuesday with federal exploitation offenses, accused of crossing state lines to transport the minor from Indiana to Ohio after what prosecutors describe as a year of sexually explicit online communication. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio, the investigation remains ongoing, and additional charges related to Buzbee’s death have not yet been filed.
Hailey was last seen near her home in Fishers, Indiana, on January 5. Nearly a month later, on February 2, her dismembered remains were discovered in a remote section of Wayne National Forest in Ohio.
Federal authorities allege that Thomas met the teen through the gaming platform Discord and engaged in sexually charged conversations with her for approximately a year prior to her disappearance. Court documents state that he drove roughly 160 miles overnight from Columbus, Ohio, to Fortville, Indiana, on January 6 to pick her up after allegedly planning her departure.
Phone location data reportedly places Thomas at a Logan, Ohio Airbnb the night Buzbee disappeared and near the North County Trail in Wayne National Forest the following morning—the area where her remains were later found. Investigators say blood evidence was discovered at the Airbnb.
Prosecutors further allege that Thomas attempted to delete Snapchat messages and explicit images from his phone. Additional electronic devices seized from his residence reportedly contained obscene images involving a minor and disturbing online conversations.
In one message cited in charging documents, Thomas allegedly sent graphic and violent language to a minor. Authorities say that during a January 21 interview with police, he claimed to believe Buzbee was “alive and safe,” but when asked whether he would confess if he had killed her, he allegedly responded, “No, I wouldn’t tell you.”
Thomas was initially charged on January 31 with state-level offenses including pandering sexually oriented material involving a minor and evidence tampering. Two days later, prosecutors say he led investigators to the burial site in Ohio, where the teen’s body was recovered beneath frozen ground.
Federal officials have indicated that state charges will be dismissed as the case proceeds at the federal level. Thomas is currently being held at the Franklin County Jail on a $1.5 million cash bond.
U.S. Attorney Dominick S. Gerace II emphasized that the case remains active. “The filing of these federal charges does not signal the end of the investigation,” he said, noting that prosecutors are continuing to work alongside federal, state, and local law enforcement to pursue justice.
