3 charged in connection with Jacob Caldwell’s disappearance

A billboard from August 2018 shows that Jacob Caldwell was found. The teen went missing not long after his father was murdered in Riverside. Three adults who lived in the Miami Twp. residence where Jacob was found - Donald Bell, Jo Anne Henderson and Zacheriah Henderson - have been charged with interference of custody, a first-degree misdemeanor.

A billboard from August 2018 shows that Jacob Caldwell was found. The teen went missing not long after his father was murdered in Riverside. Three adults who lived in the Miami Twp. residence where Jacob was found - Donald Bell, Jo Anne Henderson and Zacheriah Henderson - have been charged with interference of custody, a first-degree misdemeanor.

Three adults in the home where missing teen Jacob Caldwell was found in August have been charged with interference with custody, according to Miamisburg Municipal Court records.

Donald Bell, 48, Jo Anne Henderson, 52, and Zacheriah Henderson, 23, all are charged with one first-degree misdemeanor.

All three are scheduled for Jan. 30 arraignments and March 6 pretrial conferences, according to court documents. Messages seeking comment were left with their attorneys.

RELATED: Accused killer of Beavercreek man sentenced in S.C., heading to Ohio

Jacob Caldwell disappeared not long after he and his two brothers saw their father, Robert, shot to death in Riverside on Aug. 15, 2017. Jacob’s legal guardian at the time was his paternal grandmother.

Jacob was located Aug. 28, 2018 — matching the date of the offense against the defendants in court records — at a home on Spring Valley Pike in Miami Twp.

The redacted court documents state that all three did “knowingly keep … a child under the age of 18 … at the residence for three months” and that the defendants were “aware that he was wanted by law enforcement as a missing child.”

Jacob was missing for about a year.

RELATED: Local woman made $2.5 million in sex-for-money scheme, feds say

In Greene County Juvenile Court proceedings, Jacob was found to be delinquent for multiple incidents of running away. A judge ruled Jacob should remain in custody at a facility where he can get treatment and counseling.

Six defendants have been charged federally in what prosecutors call a conspiracy to kill Robert “Bobby” Caldwell, 35, of Beavercreek.

Sterling Roberts is alleged to have pulled the trigger. Roberts and Tawnney Caldwell (Bobby’s ex-wife) face the death penalty if convicted on all charges filed in Dayton’s U.S. District Court.

RELATED: Court records show Riverside homicide suspect has history of mental, criminal problems

The other defendants include Sterling Roberts’ brothers, Christopher Roberts and Chance Deakin, along with Tawnney’s mother and stepfather, Chandra Harmon and James Harmon.

Chandra Harmon’s sister is Lori Thomas, who owns Jan’s Grooming in Centerville. The pet grooming business is where Bell and Jo Anne Henderson have worked, according to Montgomery County Common Pleas Court documents.

Bell and Jo Anne Henderson also were listed on the rental lease of the home where Jacob was found, according to the home’s owners.

RELATED: Lawsuit: Woman used escort service funds to help pay for murder of Beavercreek man

Lisa Thomas and her daughter, Staci, have not been indicted but are named as defendants in a wrongful death civil lawsuit brought by Bobby Caldwell’s widow.

Lisa Thomas and Michigan millionaire George Helms also are being federally investigated for money laundering, conspiracy, illegal interstate sexual activity and tax crimes relating to an alleged $30,000 per month agreement for Thomas to provide exclusive escort services for Helms, according to federal court documents.

WRONGFUL DEATH LAWSUIT: Caldwell’s wife sues federal defendants, sheriff for husband’s death

At issue in that case is a Washington Twp. home where Lisa Thomas lived and where, according to court documents, Jacob may have been during part of his disappearance.

The civil lawsuit filed by Candice Caldwell (Bobby’s widow) alleges Lisa Thomas used money from her escort business to help pay for the murder and for hiding Jacob.

Sterling Roberts was sentenced to 10 years this week in U.S. District Court in South Carolina on a gun charge related to a shooting three days after Bobby Caldwell’s death. A spokesman for the U.S. Marshals Service said Sterling Roberts would be in Ohio “soon” for his case in Dayton’s U.S. District Court.

MORE ON JACOB CALDWELL: Missing teen found a year after witnessing his father’s death had run away before, records show

RELATED: Accused killer of Beavercreek man to be sentenced in S.C. case

EARLIER: Ex-wife, 5 others indicted in 2017 killing of Ohio man

MORE: Read other stories from Mark Gokavi

SOCIAL MEDIA: Follow Mark Gokavi on Twitter or Facebook

DOWNLOAD OUR FREE MOBILE APPS

About the Authors