An Ohio high school teacher and mother of two was found shot to death late last month, authorities say. So far, only one relatively minor arrest has been made in connection with the case.
Michelle Long, 50, taught math, STEM and industry at Leetonia High School for nine years, according to her obituary. She was also a track and robotics coach and was heavily involved with the broader communities of Butler and Salem townships in Columbiana County. Her time and tenure with her children’s local Boy Scouts Troop #6, where she served in a leadership position, was particularly important to Long. She was particularly fond of accompanying her two boys on winter camping trips, which earned her the nickname “Ice Princess.”
On the night of Nov. 29, the beloved mom and booster with the royal moniker was uncharacteristically late to pick up one of her sons. Long’s boyfriend checked on her and discovered the worst — she was killed in her truck, idling in the driveway, according to the Columbiana County Sheriff’s Office.
The 911 call came at around 9:30 that night, according to a sheriff’s office report obtained by Youngstown-based CBS affiliate WKBN. A call log suggests Long had been shot through the driver’s side window of her vehicle.
“Michelle enjoyed spending time with her family and friends and was always someone you could count on,” her online remembrance reads. “Her smile and way of lighting up the room will be greatly missed by all who knew her.”
Michelle Ann Long was shot to death in her truck on Nov. 29, 2023. (Obituary)
On Nov. 30, the sheriff’s office executed two search warrants, according to The Review, a local paper published in East Liverpool, Ohio, that serves the southern half of Columbiana County. One of those warrants was executed in Lisbon, the county seat — roughly 100 miles southeast of Cleveland.
That warrant targeted the home of Long’s ex-husband, the paper reported. The man’s father was reportedly arraigned on Friday and pleaded no contest to one count of misdemeanor obstructing official business. He was quickly found guilty and released on a personal recognizance bond, with his sentencing set for Dec. 14.
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That charge reportedly came after the defendant stood in the front door of his son’s house and passively resisted a deputy’s commands by blocking the entrance and slowing the process of law enforcement removing all the inhabitants inside the residence on Market Street. It is unclear who or what the second search warrant targeted.
Some details about the results of the ensuing search have trickled out, according to WKBN. Various items were removed and taken as evidence, including an iPhone said to have blood on it, an iPad, a router and modem, and printed copies of text messages.
The TV station, citing investigators, also reported the victim and her ex were going through a contentious divorce when she died. The week Michelle Long was gunned down, a family law judge denied a request by her ex-husband for a larger share of the couple’s assets.
The murder investigation is said to be ongoing, and Columbiana County Sheriff Brian McLaughlin has implored the public for help.
In comments to the Review, he said he expects to serve additional search warrants in the near future and made it clear there is at least one person is being looked at closely in the case.
“Our person of interest is still our person of interest,” McLaughlin said.
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