Ward’s Death Is Ruled A Suicide

The full autopsy by a Kansas City, KS forensics firm on a Trenton man who was found dead in December has confirmed an initial ruling that he committed suicide.
According to the autopsy report issued by Dr. Erik K. Mitchell of Frontier Forensics Midwest LLC of Kansas City, KS, Tanner Ward committed suicide by hanging himself in a tree in a wooded area near Shanklin Avenue. Mr. Ward had gone missing in early June and his body was found Dec. 4 by two Trenton High School students who were walking through the area on their way to school. A preliminary report had ruled the death a suicide as well.
Dr. Mitchell’s report indicated that there was no suspension of Mr. Ward’s body by anyone other than himself and said the bark on the tree had not been disturbed, with no evidence of a sawing or sliding action of the cord across the bark.
“The anatomic finds and scene presentation indicate there is self-suspension, not suspension of the body by others,” the report states.
The report also noted that the body was hanging “well above grade over an area of branches, brush and other detritus.” The cord from which the body was suspended had been wrapped around the branch multiple times.
A t-shirt was found on the body and other clothing, including a pair of jeans, were also found at the scene. All of those pieces of clothing were the same ones Mr. Ward was reported to have been wearing when he went missing.
During the six months that Mr. Ward was missing, the Trenton Police Department had worked the case as a possible homicide, with many persons coming forward with theories of where the 19-year-old father was and who was responsible for his death. TPD Chief Tommy Wright had indicated his frustration that those who had come forward did not have actual information, only hearsay. In addition to the lack of a “digital footprint” for Mr. Ward, who did not have a cell phone, the investigation was hampered by the fact that many in Mr. Ward’s circle didn’t want to talk to the police and were afraid of being implicated in other activity. While hundreds of leads were received and followed, they were dead ends. Chief Wright summed up a lot of the information received in four words: misinformation, speculation, conjecture and rumors. Still, Wright said those leads were followed.
While the autopsy indicates suicide, Chief Wright said he is still waiting on some lab results from items that were a part of the investigation. In addition, he has sought an investigative subpoena for the report from a second autopsy, requested by Mr. Ward’s family, that was conducted by National Autopsy Services of Topeka, KS. Information regarding that autopsy has not yet been made public.
The story of Mr. Ward’s death was featured on the television program “Crime Watch Daily,” with many viewers commenting that Mr. Ward could not have taken his own life because his feet were missing when he was found. Wright had earlier explained that his feet were missing due to the way his body would have naturally responded to being suspended over a long period of time.
Chief Wright said he hopes that the finding of suicide will put to rest some of what has been swirling on social media indicating that Mr. Ward was murdered-and naming the subjects they suspect of being responsible for his death.
“A lot of the ‘theoretical’ information that is being put out on social media is false,” Chief Wright said. “It’s cruel and it’s dangerous. And on some level, it’s slanderous.”