Ky. man convicted in connection with Ohio teen’s disappearance 13 years ago

CLERMONT COUNTY, Ohio (TCD) -- A jury convicted a northern Kentucky man this week of crimes related to the disappearance of a 17-year-old girl who was last seen in 2010.

WCPO-TV reports 35-year-old Jacob Bumpass was found guilty of tampering with evidence and abuse of a corpse. He was reportedly the last person to see Paige Johnson alive before she went missing Sept. 23, 2010. Prosecutors, however, said they did not have enough evidence to charge Bumpass with murder because the coroner could not determine her cause of death.

On the day she went missing, Johnson reportedly told her mother she was going to her sister’s apartment nearby and that her friend Jason was giving her a ride. WCPO reports, however, that Bumpass actually picked her up and drove her.

Johnson remained missing for 10 years until her body was found in a wooded area near State Route 276 in March 2020, according to WCPO.

WXIX-TV reports prosecutors used Bumpass' cellphone records and cell tower information to link him to the area near where her body was found and contradict his earlier testimony.

Clermont County prosecutors reportedly said in court Bumpass left Johnson in the woods "with a complete disregard for the value of her life" and that he "dumped her like she was nothing more than a bag of trash."

Bumpass will be sentenced in September, and his attorneys reportedly plan to appeal.

MORE:

• Jury finds Jacob Bumpass guilty of multiple charges in connection to Paige Johnson's death - WCPO
• Jury convicts man charged in connection with disappearance of Paige Johnson - WXIX
• Paige Johnson's remains found: What we know about the case of the NKY teen who went missing in 2010, 3/25/2020 - WCPO