NEWBURGH HEIGHTS, Ohio — The Newburgh Heights Police Department is partnering with Tiffin University to investigate a cold case of 17-year-old Kurt Sova, who disappeared in 1981 and was found dead five days later in a ravine off of Harvard Avenue, according to a news release from police.
Dozens of student scholars within the university's criminal justice department will work with investigators from the Newburgh Heights Police Department and Crime Stoppers of Cuyahoga County, who will offer a reward of up to $5,000 for information that leads to an arrest.
On Oct. 23, 1981, Sova was at a party at a home on Harvard Avenue when he disappeared. He was reported missing by his parents.
Five days later, his body was found in a ravine approximately 500 yards away from the house where he attended for a party. The medical examiner at the time couldn’t determine the exact cause of death, but ruled he had only been dead less than 24 hours, despite being missing for five days.
The case drew national attention, with coverage on the Unsolved Mysteries on Nov. 23, 1988. The case remains unsolved and the sole surviving member of the Sova family is supportive of authorities re-opening the case, according to police.
