Police were called to the scene near the intersection of Allison Avenue and Oakleaf Avenue in Springfield around 10:15 a.m Tuesday.
A park worker called 9-1-1 when his coworker found a car near the rear of the park while mowing. His call describes the eerie scene.
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“There is an automobile tucked all the way in the back by the walking trail near the Boy Scout Bridge,” the caller says, “Doors are open, someone is in there. My partner said he or she is laying there.”
The worker said it’s not normal for people to be in that area.
Investigators focused their work Tuesday morning on a wooded area before taping off the entrance to the park. The Clark County Coroner’s Office arrived on the scene around 12:30 p.m.
A neighbor whose house butts up to the park said she heard what she thought was four gunshots around midnight. She said the sound is common around her neighborhood.
Another resident, Jeff Skaggs, said he doesn’t remember anything this big happening in the area in years.
“It’s been a long time since anything major has happened down there,” he said. “There’s been some shootings in the park, but that’s been about 15-20 years.”
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But he also said the woods provides a cover for suspicious activity.
“At night, I notice there is a lot of police cars driving through there,” Skaggs said. “It would be very easy for someone to drive back there and dump a body.”
Holt has also been identified as the father of one of two boys who were tied up in a home invasion in Huber Heights that also happened on Tuesday morning.
The juveniles were not injured, and were able to break free around 8:30 a.m. Tuesday morning, according to Huber Heights police.
According to a 9-1-1 call made by the boys’ mother, Holt was last seen by the boys around 11 p.m. Monday. She said in the call that two men broke into the Shull Road home, tied up the boys and ransacked the house around 4 a.m.
“The house is a mess. They just tied my kids up. They untied themselves and called me,” the woman said in the call.
The Huber Heights and Springfield police departments are working together on the investigation.
Holt Jr.’s cause and manner of death has yet to be determined. The Montgomery County Coroner’s Office will be performing the autopsy.
Staff Writer Will Garbe contributed to this report.
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