WPD, ODNR investigate poaching of 2 deer in cemetery

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WILMINGTON — Wilmington police and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources are investigating the apparent poaching of deer Saturday afternoon at Sugar Grove Cemetery.

Wilmington Police Chief Ron Cravens told the News Journal that officers were dispatched to the cemetery and found two dead deer. The ODNR was called to assist in the investigation.

Cravens advised that no one had reported hearing a gunshot. While no arrows were located at the scene, authorities suspect they were used.

“It is suspicious,” said Cravens. “It’s not every day you find a deer shot with arrows in the city.”

The investigation is continuing. The ODNR could not immediately be reached for comment.

He said a dead deer found in the cemetery several days earlier did not appear to have been killed by humans.

Upwards of a couple dozen deer frequent the cemetery, as well as the woods around the cemetery and bike trail and the woods across Truesdell St. between Bernice St. and Lytle Creek.

Eric Baldino of Wilmington said he contacted police Saturday after he and some family members arrived to visit several gravesites and discovered two dead deer.

He later posted information on the Friends of Sugar Grove Cemetery Facebook page, and with his permission that is shared by the News Journal: “When I arrived at approximately 5:50 p.m. the poaching had just happened within a minute or two prior,” he stated.

He said he saw three other vehicles in the cemetery at the time he was calling police.

“Hopefully if this makes the news, then the people in the other vehicles who were in there during that time frame will come forward and share what they’d seen too, even if they didn’t initially know anything unusual had occurred during their visits.

“It was extremely sad to see what had occurred,” said Baldino. “I hope they find who it is.”

Anyone with information pertaining to the incident should call Wilmington police.

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News Journal staff

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