Human remains in WV identified as missing man, 2 arrested

WHEELING, W.Va. (WTRF) — Human remains found in Ohio County, West Virginia have been identified as Andrew Downs, a man reported missing from Whitehall, Ohio, in July 2021.

On Jan. 2, 2023, the Ohio County Sheriff’s Office received information from Whitehall Police that Downs had died and was buried behind a residence on Leopold Lane east of Wheeling.

With help from the Tyler County Search and Rescue Team, the West Virginia State Police Evidence Recovery Team and the West Virginia Medical Examiner’s Office, investigators located and excavated a burial site at the property. Human remains were recovered.

The remains were examined and tested by the West Virginia Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Marshall University and the University of Tennessee. The remains were confirmed to be those of Andrew Downs.

On Sept. 3, 2025, felony warrants were issued for Christopher Riley and Sarah Riley for concealment of a deceased human body. Christopher Riley is related to Downs and the Rileys lived at the Leopold Lane address in 2021.

The pair turned themselves in on Sept. 29, 2025. The case is now pending in Ohio County Circuit Court.

As of Monday afternoon, neither of the two appears in the West Virginia Division of Corrections system.