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TOLEDO, Ohio (WJW) — Police are investigating a homicide believed to be connected to a fugitive who was found with a missing Canton girl in Mexico earlier this month and arrested by federal agents.
U.S. Marshals earlier this month apprehended Jonathon R. Jones, 33, in Mexico. He was sought in connection with the disappearance of 17-year-old Kaitlyn Coones, who was also recovered in the country.
Canton police earlier this month requested Sylvania Township police conduct a welfare check on 53-year-old Nicole Jones, who lived at a home along Timbers Edge Boulevard in Toledo, according to a Friday news release from Sylvania Township police.
The home is listed in county court records as the residence of Jonathon Jones. Authorities on Friday declined to say how the two are connected, citing an active investigation into the woman’s death.
Township police and U.S. Marshals visited the home earlier this month, but Nicole Jones was not found, according the release.
“Subsequent information gathered has now indicated that Ms. Jones is the victim of a homicide,” the release reads.
Police are now seeking an arrest warrant for one suspect in the case, though Sylvania police Deputy Chief Jim Rettig declined to name that suspect Friday. Police expect to seek additional warrants for “another suspect or suspects” in the near future, Rettig told FOX 8 News.
In November, Jones was indicted in Wood County Common Pleas Court on charges including felony counts of endangering children and pandering obscenity involving a minor and misdemeanor counts of contributing to the unruliness or delinquency of a child and interference with custody, among others.
He pleaded guilty in March to amended charges including endangering children and attempt to commit pandering obscenity, but he didn’t appear for sentencing, court records show. The court issued a warrant for Jones’ arrest on May 4.
Coones was later reported missing, and was believed to be with Jonathon Jones. Prior to her disappearance, she was last seen Feb. 13 in Cleveland.
The pair was previously spotted along the Mexican border in Arizona, authorities said.
Marshals on May 8 reported the man was apprehended in Ahumada, a municipality in northern Mexico, and Coones was found.
The U.S. Marshals Service Missing Child Unit and Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force were involved in the search.