Tina Herrmann, 32, of Howard, Ohio, and her children, Sarah Maynard, 13, and Kody Maynard, 10, were reported missing Thursday by Herrmann's boyfriend. Her friend, 41-year-old Stephanie Spring, is also missing, Knox County Sheriff David Barber told WBNS TV in Columbus.
One of Herrmann's co-workers found blood inside her home, Herrmann's ex-husband told the TV station, and authorities suspect foul play.
Ohio's Kenyon College was locked down for a time overnight after Herrmann's pickup truck was found on campus. In an e-mail to students obtained by The Associated Press, school officials explained that "local law enforcement advised of a potentially dangerous person in the vicinity."
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According to Barber, the inside of the house was in "unusual condition," WBNS reported. He said he was surprised that children and adults would be living inside, but did not elaborate further on what police found.Police said Herrmann's boyfriend and co-worker became concerned when she did not show up to work Wednesday at a Mount Vernon, Ohio, Dairy Queen. When the co-worker, who has not been identified, helped police search Herrmann's home, police became suspicious.
"It makes no sense to me," Larry Maynard, the father of the missing children, told the TV station. " ... It's like somebody had ripped my heart out of me. I don't want to believe that something has happened to my children, but in my heart, I know there's something that's happened to them."