Local News

Missing Steuben County man found dead

FREMONT, Ind. (WOWO) The Steuben County Sheriff responded on Wednesday to a report of a missing person who had not been seen by the reporting party since the morning hours of Friday July 23.  It was reported that 36 year old Daniel J. Sheets of Fremont had not been heard from and he was not answering his cell phone.  Sheets was reportedly last seen at a residence in the 5700 block of North CR 675 E in rural Steuben County’s Fremont Township.  That residence had been the subject of a fire back on the night of July 24.

As the missing persons investigation unfolded, it was learned that Sheets may have still been at or near the house just prior to or around the time of the fire.  Sheriff’s deputies and detectives then executed a search of the area, both on foot and with the Sheriff’s Office drone.  During the course of the search, a deceased victim was located in the garage area of the residence which had not been affected by the fire.

The Steuben County Coroner’s Office was notified and a death investigation was launched.  During the course of processing the scene, 2 dogs had to be removed from a camper trailer adjacent to the house.

While removing the dogs, a male subject identified as 30 year old Steven M. Restemayer of Coldwater, MI was discovered inside the camper.  Restemayer was taken into custody on an outstanding DeKalb County, Indiana arrest warrant for failure to appear on a charge of carrying a handgun without a license and booked into the Steuben County Jail.

A subsequent autopsy was conducted on Friday July 30th and the victim was positively identified as the missing person, Daniel Sheets.  Following the preliminary results of the autopsy, the death has been ruled a homicide by the Coroner’s Office.

The ongoing homicide investigation is being conducted by the Steuben County Sheriff’s Office and Indiana State Police.  At this time, it has been determined that the house fire neither caused nor contributed to Sheets’ death and Restemayer is considered a person of interest in the investigation.

Assisting the Sheriff’s Office and Indiana State Police at the scene were the Angola Police, Angola Fire Department, Fremont Fire Department, Indiana State Fire Marshal’s Office, and the Steuben County Coroner’s Office.

Related posts

UPDATE: Shots Fired on Fort Wayne’s South Side

Kayla Blakeslee

Celadon pursuing bankruptcy in wake of fraud charges

Network Indiana

Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend releases names of priests accused of sexual abuse

Brooklyne Beatty

Leave a Comment