Police in Ohio say a spooky Halloween decoration of a dead woman hanging from a fence was actually a dead woman hanging from a fence. Her alleged killer is currently being held on a $2 million bond and holy shit this story is awful.

According to Ohio’s WKRC, construction workers in Chillicothe, Ohio, made the grisly discovery around 8:30 a.m. Tuesday thinking it was a Halloween decoration. Other passersby apparently made the same mistake, as the woman’s sleeve had caught on the fence leaving her body dangling in front of it.

“I thought somebody was playing a prank on the construction workers and I told my daughter it was just a dummy,” one neighbor told the Columbus Dispatch. “It was so awful that I thought the prank went too far.”

But it was real, cops say, and it’s being investigated as a homicide: Police Chief Keith Washburn says the woman—31-year-old Rebecca Cade—died of blunt-force injuries to her head and neck. A bloody rock “the size of a grapefruit” was apparently found nearby and is believed to be the murder weapon.



Cade—who reportedly had learning disabilities and a child with fetal alcohol syndrome—was a long-time resident in the neighborhood. Neighbors say she was sweet and overly trusting.

“She was very gullible, very easily misled, as long as she thought you were her friend she would do just about anything for you,” one neighbor told WKRC.

The one positive detail in the horrific story is that police think they’ve found the killer. 27-year-old Donnie Cochenour Jr. has allegedly already confessed and is currently behind bars on a $2 million bond.

Make that two positive details swirling in a black sea of misery and sadness: there’s a suspected serial killer on the loose in the area, but cops don’t think this case is related.