TUSCARAWAS COUNTY, Ohio (TCN) — Authorities say they have resolved a cold case from 1998 in which a man’s dismembered body was found in a suitcase.
On Feb. 1, 1998, children found a suitcase along the side of the road. It contained human remains that had been dismembered, WTRF reports. A few days later, another suitcase was found in the area that contained more remains. Although DNA evidence was collected, the man’s identity was never discovered and no suspect was arrested. The case went cold for decades until it was reopened in 2023.
That year, DNA evidence helped authorities to identify the victim as Lawrence Drotleff; at the time of his death in 1998, he was 93 years old, according to WTRF. In January 2024, authorities interviewed the victim’s son, 81-year-old Larry Drotleff. He allegedly told them that he dismembered the body with a hand saw and disposed of it after coming home and finding his father had died. In addition to putting some of the remains in the suitcases that were found, he also allegedly put some of the remains in a dumpster.
According to the Times-Reporter, Larry Drotleff had allegedly collected Social Security and pension funds that belonged to his father, but when investigated, he told authorities that Lawrence Drotleff had moved away and then died.
WJW-TV reports that Tuscarawas County Sheriff Orvis Campbell said, “It remains difficult to comprehend that the greed of theft could cause someone to treat their father’s body in this manner.”
WTRF reports that the statute of limitations on abuse of a corpse has passed, so such charges cannot be filed in Ohio; federal charges have been filed, however, and the case is pending in federal court. According to investigators, Larry Drotleff has been charged with stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars in Social Security benefits and pension funds that belonged to his father.
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