The Wheeling Police Department and Ohio County Prosecutors Office announced Friday two people have been criminally charged in connection with the ongoing 2018 homicide investigation of Trevor Vossen, Lauren “LuLu” Jenkins and her unborn child.
On Monday, Sept. 13, an Ohio County Grand Jury returned an indictment on Gerald Wayne Jako, Jr., 36 of Wheeling and Dana Marie Bowman, 33 of Wheeling on three counts of murder and two counts of concealing a deceased human body.
Jako currently is serving a prison sentence on unrelated charges at the Mount Olive Correctional Complex in Mount Olive, W.Va. Bowman was arrested Thursday by the U.S. Marshals Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force in Wyandot County, Ohio. She currently is incarcerated at the Seneca County, Ohio Jail.
On June 25, Wheeling Police and the Ohio County Prosecutors office held a joint news conference to discuss details of the Aug. 13, 2018 homicide case in an effort to further the investigation. Tips generated following the news conference led to effective information, which was presented to the grand jury that convened as regularly scheduled this past Monday.
“This week’s indictment means we are a step further in this case, but our work continues,” said Police Chief Shawn Schwertfeger. “Thanks to the ongoing support from our community and local news outlets, law enforcement successfully gathered additional information to obtain a grand jury indictment in this years-long case. Once again, I am extremely proud of the hard work and dedication of the Wheeling Police Department, the Ohio County Prosecutors Office, the Raleigh County, W.Va. Sheriff’s Office and our federal law enforcement partners.”
Bowman will return to West Virginia after an extradition hearing in Ohio. Both will be then arraigned in front of an Ohio County circuit court judge at a later time.
