PORTLAND, OH. — An Ohio man will be charged Tuesday in the death of Kanawha County teenager Ericka Brown according to Meigs County, Ohio Sheriff Keith Wood.
Wood said Ernest Michael Roach, 36, of Racine, Ohio, told investigators he killed Brown. Her body was found along the Ohio River near Portland, Ohio Saturday wrapped in a plastic tarp with a cement block tied to it.
Brown, 16, of Cross Lanes, was reported missing Aug. 10. Kanawha County sheriff’s deputies have said they believe she left on her own but she may have been a victim of a crime afterward. The department announced last week it had extended its search from Charleston up the I-77 corridor and into Ohio. Sheriff’s deputies considered Roach a person of interest last week. He was taken into custody on those charges before Brown’s body was found Saturday. He’s being held in the South Central Regional Jail.
Sheriff Wood said Roach would face the death charges in Ohio. He was not ready to release a motive Monday.
Brown was a sophomore at Nitro High School. School officials said counselors would be on hand at the school Tuesday.