OSP: important events in Dennis Day's investigation

PHOENIX, Ore –

The Oregon State Police released a chronology of important events regarding Dennis Day's investigation, which lasted almost a whole year.

On Thursday, Day's family made a public statement confirming that the body found on April 4, 2019 in Phoenix, Oregon, was that of the former member of the Mickey Mouse Club. Although it took about two months between the discovery of Day's body and the day when it was clearly identified as public, the police documented specific events dating back to July 13, 2018.

Phoenix Police and Jackson County No. 5 Fire District first responded to Day and mid-July 2018, at her husband Henry "Ernie" Caswell's home in Pine Street. , as a result of a fall. He was taken to the hospital and then to a health facility where he has been living ever since. Four days later, PPD learned that Day was going to visit friends and would be back in a few days. The department began conducting several social assistance audits at home over the next two weeks.

On July 26, 2018, Oregon State Police responded to a domestic disturbance call on Highway 42, near mile 30, in Coos County. They found a man and a woman in possession of a car registered at Day. The woman driving was cited for suspension while the vehicle was impounded, according to OSP.

The following day, PPD recorded Day as missing in several databases, including the law enforcement data system and the national crime information center. The police then proceeded to another search of the house, but found no one.

On August 8, 2018, PPD received a "bad smell" report from 510 Pine Street, Day Residence. Officers responded, but noted that "nothing has been observed or felt in the area".

For more than four months, the case has not moved. The next notable event did not occur until January 28, 2019, when a meeting was held in which PPD, OSP and the Jackson County Sheriff's Office participated in order to discuss the case of Day. The sheriff's office and the OSP each provide a detective.

A few more months elapsed until the DPP obtained the use of a dead dog on April 4, 2019. It was then that a body was discovered at inside the Phoenix house. The Jackson County Major Mortality Death Investigation Unit (MADIU) has been activated and OSP has become the lead agency.

The OSP timeline ends on June 6, 2019 when the coroner's office identified the body found at Phoenix House as Dennis Day on the basis of "solid circumstantial evidence".

According to the police, the investigation is still ongoing.