Ritter had been reported missing in Lucas County, Ohio, before authorities discovered her body at a train yard in Elkhart on Sept. 3.
A Norfolk Southern Railway employee alerted authorities shortly before noon after finding a deceased woman on top of a stopped train car at the rail yard near the 2600 block of West Lusher Avenue. Police responded to the scene and began an investigation.
Investigators later determined that the woman was Ritter, who had been reported missing to the Lucas County Sheriff’s Office. Authorities said the train had traveled west after leaving from the east before stopping in Elkhart.
Ritter was last known to be in the Holland, Ohio, area during the evening of Sept. 1 and into the early morning hours of Sept. 2. Investigators previously said she may have been traveling by bicycle around the time she went missing.
The circumstances surrounding Ritter’s death remain under investigation. The Elkhart County Homicide Unit has turned the case over to the Lucas County Sheriff’s Office, where her missing-person report originated. The latest official update said the autopsy report was still not complete.
Authorities have not released a cause or manner of death.
The case remains active as investigators work to establish what happened between Ritter’s disappearance in Ohio and the discovery of her body in Elkhart.
Anyone with information that may help investigators is asked to contact the Lucas County Sheriff’s Office at 419-255-8443. The Elkhart County Homicide Unit previously provided 574-295-2825 as its contact number for information related to the investigation.
The Lucas County Sheriff’s Office expressed condolences to Ritter’s family, friends and others who knew her as the investigation continues.
