On July 2, 2024, sheriff’s say deputies went to an apartment in Plain Township, Ohio to check on 24-year-old Raychel Sheridan after a call from her mother. Upon arrival, deputies found the door to the apartment open but no one was inside.
Deputies say they observed things that appeared suspicious inside the apartment and obtained a search warrant. Authorities was unable to elaborate on what deputies found.
There was evidence of foul play and investigators believe Sheridan was murdered inside the apartment. Overnight investigators searched targeted areas to look for Sheridan.
On July 3, around 9:24 a.m., Canton workers who were emptying trash discovered Sheridan’s body in Mother Goose Land park. Officials believes her body was wrapped in something that may have been from her apartment.
The Stark County Coroner’s Office said her body, which was identified by tattoos, was sent to the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy. Coroner’s chief investigator Harry Campbell said the case is being investigated as a homicide.
While at the apartment, deputies spotted 26-year-old Sean Goe driving Sheridan’s Jeep Liberty. He ran into a dense wooded area and eluded deputies and a K-9. An extensive search by deputies, the Northern Ohio Fugitive Task Force, Ohio Highway Patrol’s aviation team and patrol’s Community Emergency Response Team did not locate Goe.
Canton police found Goe at a local homeless shelter. Maier was unclear how police located Goe but said the community and its interest in the missing woman’s case could have played a part.
Goe was taken into custody by Canton police at a homeless shelter. He had not been charged with a crime. A court docket entry indicates that Goe was being held on $500,000 bond.
Sheridan was beaten with the blunt end of a hammer that was recovered inside the apartment Sheridan shared with Goe. She suffered at least 10 blows to the head, Dennis E. Barr, chief of the criminal division of the Stark County Prosecutor’s Office, said.
Her injuries left her unrecognizable by photo.
In August, Goe was indicted on two counts of murder and single counts of felonious assault, burglary, tampering with evidence, grand theft of a firearm or dangerous ordnance and gross abuse of a corpse.
He was held on a $1 million bond and pleaded not guilty.
On November 8, Goe was found guilty of murder, felonious assault, gross abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence in the murder.
On November 18, Goe appeared in the Stark County Courthouse in Canton where Stark County Common Pleas Court Judge Frank Forchione sentenced him to 29 years to life in prison.
