SYCAMORE TOWNSHIP, Ohio — Nearly 16 months after a driver called 911 to report striking a body lying in the middle of County Highway 9, a Fostoria resident has been indicted on four felony counts in the hit-and-run death of a Tiffin man, the Wyandot County Sheriff’s Office announced Tuesday.
Shelly Bland, of Fostoria, faces two counts of failure to stop after an accident charged as third-degree felonies and two counts of the same offense charged as fifth-degree felonies, according to a release from Sheriff Todd D. Frey. The Wyandot County Prosecutor’s Office reviewed the case before the charges were filed.
Detectives with the Wyandot County Major Crimes Unit identified a suspect in the death of Keith Wagner after what Frey described as months of intensive investigation.
The Sheriff’s Office received the 911 call at approximately 1:42 a.m. on Wednesday, April 23, 2025, from an individual who reported striking a body lying in the roadway, according to the release. Deputies responded along with Mohawk EMS and Fire and found a man in the road. The Wyandot County Medical Examiner pronounced him dead at the scene, and he was taken to the Lucas County Coroner’s Office for an autopsy.
The release does not give Wagner’s age or hometown. An obituary published by Wonderly Horvath Hanes Funeral Home and Crematory in Fremont lists Keith Anthony Wagner Jr., 37, of Tiffin, as having died April 23, 2025. Wagner graduated from Fremont Ross High School and worked in landscaping and roofing in the Tiffin area, according to the obituary, which says he is survived by two sons and two stepchildren and was preceded in death by an infant daughter. His burial was planned for Greenlawn Cemetery in Tiffin.
Under Ohio law, failure to stop after an accident is a third-degree felony when the crash results in a person’s death and a fifth-degree felony when it results in serious physical harm. Each rises one degree if prosecutors prove the driver knew what the crash caused.
The release does not state Bland’s age, whether Bland is in custody or when an arraignment is scheduled. It also does not explain why four counts were returned in a case involving a single victim.
In the days after Wagner was found, Wyandot County authorities described the case as a suspicious death. The Sheriff’s Office, the Major Crimes Unit and the METRICH Enforcement Unit were dispatched to County Highway 9 that morning, 95.3 WKTN reported at the time, and investigators asked anyone with information to come forward.
Frey thanked the public for its assistance throughout the investigation and commended the Major Crimes Unit in Tuesday’s release. He again asked residents to report suspicious activity through the Sheriff’s Office app or by contacting their local law enforcement agency.
An indictment is an accusation. Bland is presumed innocent unless and until convicted.
