Paulding murder suspect still on lam; truck found

PAULDING, Ohio (WANE) Police in Paulding – and law enforcement agencies around the region and the nation, as it turns out – are still searching for the man accused of killing a 21-year-old woman whose body was found in a Paulding apartment nearly a week ago.

Paulding Police Chief Randy Crawford said Monday that 47-year-old Frank H. Tracy Jr. is still on the lam, wanted for the death of Hannah Fischer. She was found just before 5 p.m. Feb. 9 inside an apartment at 119 W. Perry St. in Paulding that Fischer’s mother said she shared with Tracy.

Crawford said “several agencies” are involved in searching for man with a record that includes arrests for drugs and abduction. Authorities entered the warrant for murder into a national database, Crawford said.

It’s not clear, though, what other areas Tracy has ties to.

How he could make it to those locales is another question. Crawford said a truck believed to belong to Tracy – a gold/beige Chevy Silverado that was shared on Facebook countless times over – was found, “but he wasn’t found with it.” Crawford did not say when and where that truck was located. Police do not know what type of vehicle Tracy could be using now, if any.

Police have received tips from the public, Crawford said, though they have led to dead ends.

“We’ve been receiving a lot of calls but so far none of them have panned out,” the chief said.

When Tracy was named as the prime suspect in Fischer’s death, Crawford told NewsChannel 15 then that he was not a threat to the public. On Monday, he stood by that.

“I don’t see him as any threat to anybody.”

Paulding County Coroner Dr. Joseph Kuhn said Monday that an autopsy was completed on Fischer, but he refused to release the findings – including a cause and manner of death.