PORT CLINTON — The husband of a missing Genoa, Ohio, woman has been charged with murder after her body was found buried in a South Toledo back yard, authorities said Wednesday.
John D. Eichner, 43, is charged with murder and tampering with evidence for the death of his wife, Amber Eichner, 34, as well as four counts of child endangering for “abandoning” the couple’s four daughters in Tennessee, Ottawa County Prosecutor James VanEerten said during an arraignment on Wednesday in Ottawa County Municipal Court.
Eichner looked down as he entered the courtroom and he held his arms around his chest, refusing to look at his wife’s family, who sat in the courtroom gallery. Members of her family clapped as they learned the man would be held in the Ottawa County jail after Judge Louis Wargo accepted the prosecutor’s recommendation to set bond at $1.07 million.
“With her being a victim of domestic violence — she has been for a very long time — we fought really hard to support her to get away. The only thing I can say is she finally got the kids away from him. It wasn’t the way we wanted, but she’s finally free,” Mrs. Eichner’s cousin, Amanda Kimbrell said following Wednesday’s hearing.
Shortly after 7 a.m. Friday, investigators received a report that Mrs. Eichner was missing and the couple’s four daughters — ranging from age 8 to 13 — had been dropped off by Mr. Eichner with relatives in Tennessee two days before. The children are unharmed and currently in the relatives’ care, Genoa Police Chief Matthew Herrig told The Blade on Wednesday.
The family in Tennessee then contacted other relatives in Ohio to inquire about Mrs. Eichner’s whereabouts. Reports show no one had heard from Mrs. Eichner, who was last seen between April 14 and April 16.
On April 16, Eichner contacted a friend residing in the 800 block of Atlantic Avenue and asked to bury a deceased dog on the South Toledo property, Mr. VanEerten said.
Meanwhile, informational flyers about the missing mother quickly spread on social media.
The South Toledo property owner learned of Mrs. Eichner’s disappearance and contacted authorities, notifying them she recently granted Eichner’s request to bury the dog there. She declined to speak to The Blade Wednesday morning.
Police conducted a search and on Monday dug up the South Toledo site, where human remains were located, according to the prosecutor’s office.
After an autopsy, the death was ruled a homicide and the cause of death was determined to be strangulation, Lucas County Coroner Dr. Diane Scala-Barnett said Tuesday night.
Although the body still must be positively identified through DNA analysis — a process the coroner said will take several weeks — investigators said it is believed to be Mrs. Eichner.
“Obviously, it’s not the result any of us were looking for when the initial missing persons came in,” Mr. VanEerten told The Blade. “It is probably one of the most tragic cases I’ve ever handled or I’ve ever been involved with. It’s just a terrible case.”
Chief Herrig said he stayed in close contact with members of Mrs. Eichner’s family over the past few days and attributed their work to the reason why investigators were able to locate the missing woman.
“The family is the reason we were able to get as much information about this case as quickly as we did. They deserve the praise in this for the efforts that they did,” Chief Herrig said.
There was no answer at the couple’s Genoa home, into which Chief Herrig told The Blade they had moved in August.
On March 19, Genoa police received a call from a relative of Mrs. Eichner about a possible domestic dispute. While on the phone with Mrs. Eichner, the caller said he overheard her shouting to get off of her, according to a Genoa police report.
Chief Herrig responded to the residence at approximately 7:10 a.m. that day. He said that during his conversation with Mrs. Eichner, she said she could not remember what happened after she arrived home around 6 a.m. and took a shot of alcohol with her husband, according to the report.
“She believed that he ‘drugged’ her and was afraid,” the report states. However, there were no injuries or signs of a struggle and no charges were filed.
Chief Herrig advised Mrs. Eichner to go to a hospital to be checked for any “drugs,” but he never heard about any results.
The police chief said he called on the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office to help Monday with what was then a missing-person case because of the additional resources available.
The sheriff’s office and police department continue to investigate with the assistance of the Ottawa County Prosecutor’s Office, the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the Toledo Police Department, and the FBI.
“The interoperability and the intercooperation between all the agencies is exactly what makes a large case like this come together — without that, you’re on an island of your own,” Sheriff Stephen Levorchick said on Wednesday.
Eichner requested a court-appointed lawyer and is scheduled to return to court Friday. Judge Wargo noted that Eichner’s felony charges will not be heard in municipal court, but rather the judge must determine if there is probable cause that a crime occurred, and the case will then be presented to an Ottawa County grand jury.
The judge also ordered that he have no contact with his wife’s friends or relatives, or with the couple’s four children. If convicted, Eichner could face up to life in prison.
First Published April 28, 2021, 2:14 p.m.
