Police in Colombus, Ohio, tried their hardest to locate Stephanie Hummer, 18, when she vanished while returning to her dorm room. However, a local railway worker discovered her dead body a few miles from the Ohio State University campus around 10 hours after the tragedy. ‘Unusual Suspects: End of the Line’ on Investigation Discovery details the horrific murder and the police investigation that led to the killer’s eventual conviction. We have information for you if you’re interested in the case’s specifics and want to know where Stephanie’s murderer is right now.
How Did Stephanie Hummer Die?
Stephanie Hummer, a freshman at The Ohio State University, was only 18 years old when she was killed. Despite being from Finneytown, Ohio, she had high expectations for the future, according to the majority of her friends and family. She received a full scholarship to OSU as an Evan’s Scholar in addition to being an athlete and the yearbook editor at Finneytown High School. The teen was also described as a fun-loving, down-to-earth person who enjoyed meeting new acquaintances and lending a hand whenever available. According to the episode, Stephanie had a positive attitude on life and had no cause to suspect that a short stroll home from a party would cruelly take her life.
On March 6, 1994, Stephanie was having a good time at a party with her friends when she decided to go back to her dorm room by herself since she was getting weary. That was a serious error, as the adolescent never returned, and the police were quickly notified of her abduction. Due to this, the police searched everywhere and made use of all of the resources at their disposal as Stephanie’s family travelled from Finneytown to Colombus. They also organised search teams made up of neighbourhood volunteers, who explored the city in vain because Stephanie was nowhere to be found.
As the hours passed, Stephanie’s family members started to worry about the worst, and their worries came true when a railway worker discovered the 18-year-old’s dead body a few miles from the university campus. Investigators first discovered that the woman was partially undressed and that it appeared the murderer had bludgeoned her to death with a blunt, heavy instrument. These conclusions were later supported by the autopsy, which revealed that Stephanie had been kidnapped, raped, and then died from severe blunt-force head trauma.
Who Killed Stephanie Hummer?
The initial investigation into Stephanie’s murder was quite difficult because there were no witnesses or leads for the police to follow up on. The police searched the crime site thoroughly and even searched the neighbourhood where the body was discovered, but they were unable to uncover any information that would have identified a suspect right away. The majority of Stephanie’s friends insisted that the 18-year-old was new to the city and didn’t have any enemies that she knew of who would harm her in such a horrific way.
Medical examiners discovered a foreign DNA sample on Stephanie’s body during the autopsy, and the police were certain that it belonged to the murderer as a result. The sample, however, did not match any of the entries that were already in the system, which caused the investigation to be put on hold for a while. Further investigation also revealed that Stephanie was taken from Pearl Alley, though the police were at a loss as to how the kidnapper got away since there were no eyewitnesses. As a result, the case remained unresolved for 17 years before the authorities finally made their biggest progress because to an unconnected occurrence.
Jonathan J. Gravely was detained in 2004 on a felony accusation of failing to make child support payments. When Jonathan provided his DNA information, which is required once a suspect is arrested for a felony, the police instantly realised that it matched the sample they had discovered on Stephanie’s body. So, without wasting any time, the authorities questioned Jonathan right away and eventually got him to confess to the 1994 slaying. However, Jonathan has never disclosed the reason behind his decision to kill Stephanie in such a horrific manner that fateful night.
Where Is Jonathan J. Gravely Now?
When Jonathan J. Gravely was brought before the court, he agreed to a bargain and admitted to both kidnapping and aggravated murder. His rape accusations were withdrawn as part of the agreement, and in 2007 he was given a sentence of 25 years to life in prison. Jonathan has since sought to have his sentence overturned, but in April 2023, his most recent appeal for release was knocked down. On the other side, Stephanie’s family said they will continue to battle to keep the adolescent killer in prison. Because of this, Jonathan is still behind bars in the Pickaway Correctional Institution in Orient, Ohio, with a 2033 deadline for applying for parole.
