Missing Ohio couple was shot and then dismembered, coroner reports

COLUMBUS (WCMH) — A couple missing for two years until their bodies were found in January in a house on Sullivant Avenue was shot and then dismembered, according to the coroner’s report.

Henry Clay Watson was 49 and Tera Lynn Pennington was 46 when the two Columbus residents were reported missing in August 2018. Police found their bodies in the Hilltop house buried in a basement and covered in concrete.

Franklin County Coroner Anahi Ortiz released her findings Tuesday. Watson was shot twice in the head, and Pennington once in the neck. Their bodies were partially dismembered before they were buried.

The manner of death was listed as homicide, meaning each was killed by another person.

No one has been charged in the deaths. A joint investigation is underway involving the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio, Homeland Security Investigations, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, Columbus Division of Police, Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations, and the Columbus Fire Department.

Anyone with information about their deaths is asked to contact HSI at 866-DHS-2423.