DNA on body found by hikers in national park leads to arrest of Florida woman, feds say

Hikers discovered a man’s body in an Ohio national park months ago. Now a Florida woman has been arrested in his death, the FBI said.

A group of hikers found the body in Cuyahoga Valley National Park on March 9, according to a probable cause document.

After months of investigation, Chelsea Perkins, a 31-year-old from Pensacola, was arrested Dec. 9 and accused of murder, officials said.

In March, officials found identification for the man and a plastic water bottle next to his body. The county medical examiner determined the man died from a gunshot in the back of his head, and his death was ruled a homicide.

The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations found Perkins’ DNA on the body and on the mouth of the water bottle, officials said.

Four days before his body was found, the man was at a bar in a nearby town with coworkers, investigators said. He told his supervisor he planned to meet a woman who was staying in the Cleveland area for the weekend.

The man’s supervisor watched him get into a small white car with a woman with brown hair, according to the court documents.

The two went to an Airbnb in Cleveland, which was reserved under Perkins’ name for March 5, investigators said. That night, video footage showed a woman, who investigators think is Perkins, in the area with dark hair wearing dark clothing and high boots, officials said.

The two stayed the night in the Airbnb, officials said. The next day the man sent texts to his girlfriend, and investigators tracked his cellphone location to the park.

A couple visiting the national park at the time reported seeing a white car with a military bumper sticker in a parking lot. They said they heard a gunshot while hiking near the same area where the man’s body was found, according to the court documents.

Another couple told investigators they saw a woman in the woods who said she was looking for the cemetery and became lost. She was wearing black high boots and dark clothing, and the woman seemed confused and emotionless, according to the documents.

Perkins was arrested and placed in federal custody, the FBI said. She was scheduled to appear in federal court Dec. 9.

This story was originally published December 10, 2021 at 5:15 PM with the headline "DNA on body found by hikers in national park leads to arrest of Florida woman, feds say."