Suspect in custody following alleged homicide in Portland, Ohio

PORTLAND – One suspect is in custody following the discovery of a body in the early evening of June 18, 2016 in Portland along the Ohio River.

The discovery lead to an investigation taking officials into West Virginia and multiple counties before a suspect was taken into custody.

According to Meigs County Sheriff, Keith Wood, said the homicide investigation has been underway since the discovery of the body around 4 p.m. on Sunday. The scene has been processed. Sheriff Wood said there has been “a lot of good work with multiple agencies on the case.”

Meigs County Sheriff Keith Wood reports his office received a report from an employee of the Shelly Corporation in Portland that he had found a body on the property of the gravel pit. Deputies responded to the scene along with Meigs County EMS and at 4:26 p.m. confirmed that a male subject was found deceased. The scene was secured and assistance was requested from Attorney General Mike Dewine’s Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation to assist in processing the crime scene and also to assist during the investigation. The Meigs County Prosecuting Attorney Colleen Williams was also contacted and made aware of the pending investigating. The Meigs County Coroner’s Investigator was also present on the scene to assist with the investigation.

While on scene, deputies received information from the Ripley Police Department and the Jackson County BCI that they had received information about the death of a West Virginia man over in Ohio and that he had been shot at a gravel pit. Information was relayed between both agencies and the victim was later positively identified as Brandon M. Lupardus, 30, from Millwood, WV. Lupardus was taken to the Montgomery County Coroner’s office for an autopsy.

During the course of this investigation further information was received by the Ripley Police Department and JCBCI identifying the suspect as Christopher M. Dailey, 44, from Sandyville, WV. Deputies with the Meigs County Sheriff’s Office received a cellular phone number of Dailey from the JCBCI and a trace of Dailey’s cell phone was enacted and Meigs County Deputies, along with Ohio BCI Agents, Gallia-Meigs Task Force Agents, Detectives from the Jackson County BCI, Jackson County Sheriff’s Department, Ravenswood Police Department, Ripley Police Department, Parkersburg Police Department and the WV State Police worked together through the night to locate Dailey, who was taken into custody in Wood County, West Virginia on a criminal charge of Murder as issued from the Meigs County Court. Also, two male subjects as well as a female subject are being detained for questioning concerning this investigation about the death of Brandon Lupardus.

Dailey is in custody at this time and will be awaiting a court hearing in West Virginia for extradition back to Ohio.

Sheriff Wood expressed his appreciation to all the agencies involved in this investigation as well as citizens who assisted with this case.