COLUMBUS – Columbus police say they are treating the death of a man found in a Hilltop home Monday afternoon as a homicide and two people were taken into custody but no other information was being released.
UPDATE 6/13/18 8:16 a.m.: The name of the victim has been released by Columbus police.
Officers found Thomas Lennex inside his home at 223 N. Wayne Avenue at 1:14 p.m. after they were called to check on his well-being, Homicide Unit first shift supervisor Sgt. Dave Sicilian said.
The 77-year-old man was pronounced dead by fire personnel and Sicilian says the circumstances appear to be suspicious so investigators are treating it as a homicide.
Lennex’s GMC SUV was missing from the location when detectives arrived and was recovered by patrol officers a short time later behind a house less than a block away, at 198 N. Wayne Avenue.
There were at least two persons of interest apprehended inside the vehicle, Sicilian said, but no additional information was available.
The investigation continues.
This is the 53rd homicide in Columbus in 2018.
Anyone with any information on the incident is asked to call the Columbus Police Homicide Unit at 614-645-4730 or Crime Stoppers at 614-645-TIPS (8477).