Death of woman found in trunk remains a mystery

Hamilton police are continuing to investigate why the body of Angela Marie Powers was found in the trunk of an SUV earlier this month in Ross Twp.

Powers, 39, was identified Thursday by the Butler County Coroner’s Office. Her last known address was listed in Fairfield.

Lillian Dyehouse of Robin Avenue in Ross Twp. “discovered what she believed to be a deceased person” at about 3:15 p.m. Dec. 6, according to the Hamilton police report.

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The coroner’s office was called Dec. 6 to the residence in the 2100 block of Robin and pronounced Powers dead two hours later, according to Martin Schneider, the coroner’s office administrator. The cause and manner of death have not been determined.

A sign on the door of the Dyehouse residence today read: “To All Media, we have no comment.”

Police said Powers’ body was “unwittingly” transported to Ross Twp. where she was discovered.

Before the body was discovered, the vehicle was parked at Jackson’s Auto Care on South B Street in Hamilton. A red Saturn VUE was towed by police as evidence.

A man at the auto repair business declined any comment today, referring to police to “figure it out.”

According to police, Powers was not close to family members, but her address on the police report is Bartel Drive in Fairfield. No one answered the door today at that residence.

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Powers’ brother Brian Ernest told WCPO, our media partners, his sister had drug problems and a minor arrest and he spent more than a year certain something terrible had happened to her.

“I loved her,” Ernest said. “She always came by, and we helped her. Most people in the family wouldn’t help her, but she came here.”

According to Fairfield police, Powers was issued a citation in March 2017 for stealing from Kohl’s.

In June, 2017, Powers filed an assault report with Hamilton police stating Douglas Wayne Hubbard struck her in the back of the head several times, cut her finger and hit her on the left knee with a plastic pipe, according to the report. The report listed Powers and Hubbard as living in the same residence.

Hubbard, then 61, of the 2100 block of Pleasant Avenue, was arrested and charged with misdemeanor domestic violence. The case was finished in August 2017, according to court records.

In November 2018, Hubbard died at his residence, according to police records and a Journal-News obituary. Lillian Dyehouse is listed in the obituary as Hubbard’s daughter.

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