Investigators Find Missing Ashland Mother’s Cell Phone

Law enforcement officials were searching three states on Tuesday for an Ohio mother who never returned home from vacation.

Ashland resident Lynn A. Jackenheimer, 33, never came home from a vacation to Nags Head, N.C., with her ex-boyfriend and two children. She was last seen July 4.

Law enforcement officials were also looking for Jackenheimer’s ex-boyfriend, Nate Summerfield, who allegedly dropped off the couple’s 3-year-old son and Jackenheimer’s 13-year-old autistic daughter with his brother on Sunday.

Summerfield’s brother told police that his brother told him that he murdered Jackenheimer.

Jackenheimer’s mother and stepfather said on Tuesday that they wanted Summerfield to come forward and tell police what happened to their daughter.

“Your son woke up this morning wanting his mother,” said Laurie Johnson, Jackenheimer’s mother. “Please, if you love your son, do what’s right for him.”

Investigators were treating the Jackenheimer and Summerfield as a double missing-persons case.

“We have no idea whether a crime has been committed or not,” said Capt. Carl Richert of the Ashland County Sheriff’s Office.

Richart said that a 911 call from Summerfield’s brother did not prove anything.

Summerfield was last spotted at an ATM in Ashland County on Sunday. Deputies said that they found the man’s cell phone on the side of an Ashland road.

Jackenheimer’s cell phone was found Tuesday at an unidentified location.

Family members said that a search of Summerfield’s home turned up computer searches for plane and bus tickets, leading them to believe that Summerfield was trying to find another way for the children to get home from North Carolina.

“Lynn’s a real good mother, she was,” said her stepfather, Raymond Johnson. “I don’t know why he would do what he wanted to do. To me, it had to be jealousy.”

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July 9, 2012: Mother Never Returns After Family Vacation