Skeletal remains found in Trotwood identified as 61-year-old man

The Ohio chapter of Texas EquuSearch urban search and recovery team was assisting Trotwood police after suspect human remains were found on Covenant House Drive Tuesday, March 8, 2022. MARSHALL GORBY / STAFF

The Ohio chapter of Texas EquuSearch urban search and recovery team was assisting Trotwood police after suspect human remains were found on Covenant House Drive Tuesday, March 8, 2022. MARSHALL GORBY / STAFF

Skeletal remains found by utility workers in Trotwood earlier this year have been identified as a 61-year-old man.

Montgomery County Coroner Dr. Kent Harshbarger identified the remains as Bari Littleton. His cause and manner of death have not been determined.

Littleton’s last known address was at Covenant House on Covenant House Drive and was able to sign himself out, according to Trotwood police. There was not a missing person report filed for him.

When the Dayton Daily News called Covenant House the person who answered the phone said, “No comment.”

The morning of March 8 utility workers reported finding bones near an AES Ohio right of way in the 4900 block of Covenant House Drive.

A 911 caller said he was part of a two-man crew clearing the area behind an assisted living facility, according to dispatch records.

The remains appeared to have been there to an extended period of time, according to authorities.

A skull and “general skeletal remains” were found in the right of way, Harshbarger said previously.

The coroner’s office was able to determine the remains belonged to a male early on, but couldn’t make further identification.

“We are struggling to find the material to do comparisons and we are currently trying to locate dental records,” Harshbarger said.

Typically the coroner’s office identifies remains through visual identification. When that isn’t possible they use fingerprints, dental records or DNA samples.