FOSTORIA, Ohio — More than 20 years after Jeffrey Risner was found dead in a pool of blood inside a garage behind his Fostoria home, a Seneca County grand jury has indicted a local man for his murder.

Bradly Ray, 50, of Fostoria, was arrested Thursday, Oct. 29, following a secret indictment charging him with murder in connection with Risner’s March 2006 killing, according to a press release issued by Fostoria Police Chief Gabriel Wedge.

Fostoria police officers, detectives and special agents from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) took Ray into custody without incident. He was transported to the Seneca County Jail, where authorities said he was being held without bail pending his initial court appearance.

The arrest marks the first publicly announced murder charge in a homicide that remained unsolved for more than two decades, despite the recovery of DNA evidence and years of investigative work.

A brutal killing on Palmer Street

Risner, 50, was discovered dead March 2, 2006, in a garage behind his residence at 116 Palmer St. According to cold-case records maintained by the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, responding officers found him lying on the garage floor in a pool of blood.

Fostoria detectives assumed control of the investigation and requested assistance from BCI to process the crime scene. An autopsy performed by the Lucas County Coroner’s Office established that Risner had sustained multiple sharp-force wounds to his neck, including injuries that severed his left internal jugular vein and damaged a major neck muscle. He also suffered blunt-force trauma to the right side of his head, along with multiple injuries to his face and arms.

Risner was discovered after he failed to carry out a familiar morning routine. According to BCI’s account of the case, he regularly drove his former girlfriend’s grandchildren to school. When he failed to appear on the morning of March 2, family members went looking for him and discovered his body.

Investigators determined that Risner had been the victim of a violent homicide, but the case remained unsolved for years.

DNA evidence offered investigators a possible breakthrough

In November 2021, 13abc revisited the investigation and revealed that Fostoria detectives had recovered a DNA profile from an unidentified male. The evidence had been submitted to the national Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) in 2013, but the search produced no match.

Then-Fostoria Police Capt. Patrick Brooks told the television station that investigators hoped advances in forensic genealogy could help identify the person whose DNA had been recovered at the crime scene.

The 2021 reporting also revealed that detectives did not believe Risner had been the victim of a random attack. Investigators suspected he knew the person responsible for his death.

Brooks described evidence of a violent confrontation, including injuries to Risner’s face and arms. Investigators had examined a male acquaintance who lived with Risner, but DNA evidence excluded that individual as a suspect, Brooks told 13abc.

The department’s October 2026 announcement does not establish whether the DNA evidence, forensic genealogy or another investigative development ultimately led authorities to Ray. Police have not disclosed what connected him to the killing or how long he had been under investigation.

Renewed investigation leads to murder indictment

According to Thursday’s announcement, the Fostoria Police Department spent the past year working with special agents from BCI’s Cold Case Unit to review evidence and reopen the investigation.

Those efforts culminated Thursday when a Seneca County grand jury returned a secret indictment charging Ray with murder. Seneca County Common Pleas Judge Damon Alt was involved in the indictment and warrant process, according to the department, and officers arrested Ray later that day.

Wedge credited Fostoria Detective Sgt. Brooks Hall and BCI special agents Doug Burke, Lori Braunschweiger and Darien Spann for their work on the case.

“Reaching this point after 20 years is the result of the dedication and careful planning of Fostoria Detective Sergeant Brooks Hall and BCI Special Agents Doug Burke, Lori Braunschweiger, and Darien Spann,” Wedge said.

The chief also praised the relationship between the Fostoria Police Department and state investigators, describing their cooperation as an important resource for a police agency of Fostoria’s size.

The indictment represents a major development in a case that had remained on the Ohio Attorney General’s publicly maintained list of unsolved homicides for years.

Authorities have not disclosed an alleged motive, the relationship between Ray and Risner, or the specific evidence presented to the grand jury. The department said its investigation remains ongoing and that additional information would not be released at this time.

Ray is presumed innocent unless proven guilty. The case will now proceed through the Seneca County Court of Common Pleas.