On April 22, 1981, on an overgrown abandoned farm along County Road 1 in Chesapeake, Lawrence County, Ohio, two young boys exploring a collapsed cellar looked down a 30-foot deep brick cistern. Submerged in the stagnant water was a heavy burlap sack wrapped in blankets and bound with electric cord. Inside was the decomposing body of a woman. For thirty-three years, she was known across the tri-state Ohio River Valley as "Belle in the Well."
Discovery, Autopsy & Crime Scene Artifacts
The victim had been bound hand and foot, wrapped in two floral-patterned bedsheets, and stuffed headfirst into the cistern. Pathologists estimated she had died of strangulation approximately six to twelve months prior to discovery.
She was estimated to be between 30 and 50 years old, 5 feet 3 inches tall, with graying dark hair and an edentulous jaw (she wore complete upper and lower dentures). Around her neck, detectives recovered a distinctive silver medallion featuring an engraved Saint Christopher medal, as well as a small cross.
Chronological Case Timeline
| Date / Year | Location | Event / Investigative Milestone |
|---|---|---|
| April 22, 1981 | Chesapeake, Lawrence Co., OH | Body discovered in 30-foot brick cistern; dubbed "Belle in the Well." |
| 1981 | Lawrence County, OH | Buried in an unmarked grave in woodland cemetery in Chesapeake. |
| 2009 | NamUs Entry | Entered into NamUs as UP6259; exhumation yields mitochondrial DNA profile. |
| 2013 | Todd Matthews Investigation | Todd Matthews of NamUs correlates missing person appeal from Huntington, WV family. |
| July 29, 2014 | Ironton, OH | Sheriff Jeff Lawless announces Belle in the Well is 52-year-old Louise Virginia Peterson Southerns. |