Decomposed Remains Found in ‘Vacant’ Home for Sale Identified as Former Resident

The former resident regularly returned to the home and squatted there, police said

NEED TO KNOW

• Decomposed human remains found in a house for sale in Ohio last year have been identified
• The remains were identified by the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office as Steven Wortham
• Police said Wortham used to live at the home, but had “to be removed” due to poor living conditions

Decomposed human remains found in an Ohio home last year have been identified, according to officials.

The case opened in September 2025 after two prospective homebuyers were conducting a self-guided tour and found "human remains in an enhanced state of decomposition," Lt. Eric Sheldon of the Daytona Police Department said in a statement obtained by POEPLE.

"The deceased was believed to be Steven Wortham and multiple family members came forward to offer their DNA for purposes of identifying the male," Sheldon continued, going on to share that a positive identification was made by the Montgomery County Coroner's Office.

According to police, Wortham previously lived at the address on the 3900 block of Delphos Avenue, but "had to be pink slipped and removed from the home because of the poor living conditions."

Subsequently, a new owner bought the home at a sheriff's auction last June, WHIO previously reported.

At the time, the new owner admitted he had noticed bones inside during an earlier visit, but didn't report it because he thought they belonged to an animal.

A next door neighbor had also noticed something amiss.

“There was a foul, foul odor within the last maybe two weeks,” Dayton resident Donald Arnold told the outlet. “I thought it was probably a deceased animal, so that’s why I never really did any closer smell tests.”

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Ultimately, according to the latest statement from police, a tipster said that after being removed from the property, "Wortham would regularly return to the home and 'squat' there."

Sheldon, who did not specify the man's cause of death, added that the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office told detectives that there were no obvious signs of trauma and that they believe Wortham's body had been at the home for several months before being discovered.

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