News
Meth Lab Discovered In Coolville Home During Investigation Into Murder Threat
By: Susan Tebben | The Athens Messenger, Tyler Buchanan | The Athens Messenger
Posted on:
Athens County Sheriff's Office deputies are investigating an alleged murder threat and also allegedly discovered a methamphetamine lab in a Coolville residence Thursday afternoon. The suspect is still on the loose, according to deputies.
Deputies were called around 11 a.m. when a woman reported that her husband had threatened to kill her with a shotgun. She told 911 that he entered the upstairs of the residence on Frost Road where the two were staying, brought down a shotgun and loaded it, a report from Athens County Sheriff Patrick Kelly stated.
He then told the woman to call her mother to pick up their grandchild "and then he was going to kill her first," according to the report.
The grandchild, a 17-year-old female, was at the home at the time, according to Kelly.
Later, when the man went back upstairs, she was able to escape the house and contact law enforcement.
The woman also told officials she believed a man the couple was staying with cut her husband's thumb with a machete. Kelly said that man has been interviewed and that no charges have been filed.
As of 3 p.m. Thursday, deputies had been unable to locate the man, who was believed to have fled into the nearby woods. Kelly told The Messenger that the suspect has a Parkersburg address, where they believe he has fled.
In investigating the home, deputies also allegedly found what appeared to be a meth lab. Several mason jars with clear liquid in them were found on the floor of one room, along with several bottles with plastic tubing coming out of their tops, which appeared to be gas generators for a meth lab, according to the ACSO report.
The Narcotics Enforcement Team was notified and detectives dismantled the lab. Investigators seized "numerous" bottles of meth, the report stated.
Charges are to be filed pending a continued investigation.