EATON — A photo of 6-year-old James Hutchinson of Middletown, hanging at the Preble County Sheriff’s Office in Eaton, is motivation for the PCSO staff to continue to go out and do their jobs every day.
During a Middletown City Council meeting held Dec. 7, 2021, Preble County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Shane Hatfield and Detective Andrew Forrer were recognized for their work in the case of Hutchinson, the 6-year-old who was killed by his mother in Rush Run Park and then thrown into the Ohio River nearly a year ago.
“We all kind of did a little bit of work, but these two guys were really our front people on this investigation,” Sheriff Simpson said recently of Capt. Hatfield and Detective Forrer.
“They spent a lot of time with Middletown PD and their detectives in following up and things of that nature. The chief contacted us and said, ‘hey, we want to recognize your staff,’ so we went down during a city council meeting. They were presented with some plaques for their hard work, and they gave us a photo of the little boy.”
“They have one just like it in their office,” Simpson said of the photograph. “We’re going to be hanging it in the hallway here. Because we still haven’t found that little boy. And I kind of look at it as, when you walk by and look at his picture — if that’s not motivation to go out and do your job everyday because of the victims and what we deal with, then you need to check yourself.”
“A lot of work from our office, from Kentucky, Indiana, Cincinnati area dive teams — a tremendous amount of resources went into looking for him,” Simpson said. “And unfortunately, they’ve just not been able to find him. Our continued hope is that, one day we’ll find James.
“We were kind of tasked with leading the charge on the search for James and coordinating all that. Working with the dive team,” Simpson said of the PCSO, noting Hatfield and Forrer coordinated the search “a lot of times on a daily basis, a weekly basis.”
“Everybody did a good job, but these guys really put their heart and soul into that for a lot of time,” he said.
In early March, 2021, the boy’s mother, Brittany Gosney, 29, and her boyfriend, James Hamilton, were charged in Hutchinson’s death. In September, Gosney was sentenced to 21 years to life in prison in Butler County Common Pleas Court. Hamilton was sentenced to 15 to 19 years in prison for his role in the murder and cover-up.
According to court documents, on Feb. 26, 2021, Gosney drove to Rush Run Wildlife Area, south of Camden, to abandon Hutchinson before running over him when he tried to get back in the car. Gosney told Middletown police she sped off and dragged Hutchinson for an unspecified distance before returning about 30 to 40 minutes later. Hutchinson was then found dead by Gosney in the parking lot, reportedly with a head injury. Middletown Police Chief David Birk reported during a press conference Hutchinson’s body was then returned to the family’s home in Middletown before Gosney and Hamilton disposed of his body in the Ohio River near the I-275 bridge.
Gosney originally reported Hutchinson missing, and upon further questioning she and Hamilton, they now say that James admitted James was killed in Preble County and later put in the river.
The search for James Hutchinson will continue. “If we get a lead or anything like that, we’ll be down there,” Simpson said. “I think even though Brittany and her boyfriend are in prison now, from our standpoint, the case is still open until we can try to find James.”
“You just never know when information may develop, or something may be located down there. So, our fingers are still crossed that one day we’ll be able to find him and put him to rest.”
