What started as a routine day on the campaign trail turned into a police scene when two statewide Libertarian candidates discovered a dead body in the Maumee River near downtown Toledo.
In the morning on Oct. 8, Libertarian gubernatorial candidate Don Kissick and Secretary of State contender Tom Pruss were preparing to film a campaign video at a park across from downtown Toledo when a teenage boy approached them.
The teen thought he had seen a dead body in the Maumee River and wanted the two men to confirm it, Pruss told the statehouse bureau. Cleveland.com and Ohio Public Media first reported the story.
"It's a little jarring," Pruss said. "You're just mere feet away from a body floating in the river."
Pruss called 911, and the two candidates stayed
with the boy until police and the teen's parent arrived.
"Thoughts of campaigning were temporarily set aside because this was a very deep situation that you find yourself in," Kissick told the statehouse bureau.
Before they found the body, Kissick was in Toledo for a radio interview. Kissick and Pruss stopped by the Lucas County early voting location before heading to the park. They had planned to film the video days earlier, but Pruss' phone had a low battery and Kissick's didn't have enough storage.
Pruss said he had witnessed arrests while on the campaign trail, but this was a first. "Finding a body wasn't on my bingo list," he said.
After the candidates' involvement was reported publicly, people started making jokes about the situation. "You know, the Libertarians can't get any media unless somebody dies or something like that. Just these random, very dark and sick jokes," Pruss said.
But the candidates warned that the loved ones of the deceased man can see those jokes and find them deeply harmful. "Sometimes people have to understand that this was a human being," Pruss said.
"My heart definitely goes out to the loved ones," said Kissick, who has witnessed the deaths of both parents and his first wife. "I've not experienced that kind of loss in my life, so I can't even begin to imagine what his friends and family are going through."
Kissick is running against Democratic Dr. Amy Acton and Republican businessman Vivek Ramaswamy in a race to replace term-limited Gov. Mike DeWine. Pruss faces Republican treasurer Robert Sprague and Democratic state Rep. Allison Russo in the secretary of state's race.
State government reporter Jessie Balmert can be reached at jbalmert@usatodayco.com or @jbalmert on X.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio statewide candidates find dead body
