A woman was found dead after being attacked by dogs in Letcher County, Kentucky.
Woman Found Dead
Letcher County, KY - A woman is dead after being attacked by canines -- dogs presumably, not the rare "death by coyote" possibility. Trina Sandlin, 57, left her home on the evening of June 9 and never returned. "Family members located Sandlin near her home over an embankment and had suffered injuries consistent with an animal attack," states a release by the Kentucky State Police (KSP). The attack site is located about 20 miles from where Corey Godsey, 13, was killed by dogs in 2020.
Kentucky State Police - Jeremiah, Ky (June 10, 2024) – On Sunday, June 9, 2024, at approximately 12:58 A.M, Kentucky State Police, Post 13, Hazard, received a 911 call in reference to a female being located deceased on Doty Creek in the Jeremiah community of Letcher County.
Troopers, along with detectives responded to the scene. The deceased female was identified as Trina Sandlin, 57 of Jerimiah. Preliminary investigation indicates that Sandlin had left her residence earlier in the evening to go to a neighbor’s residence but never returned. Family members located Sandlin near her home over an embankment and had suffered injuries consistent with an animal attack.
Sandlin was pronounced deceased on scene by the Letcher County Coroner’s Office and transported to the Medial Examiners Office in Frankfort for an autopsy. This incident remains under investigation by Detective Brandon Thomas.
Letcher County Coroner Perry Fowler said Sandlin was attacked by canines, but could not say if they were dogs or coyotes, reports the Lexington Herald Leader. Sandlin had rented a house in the Doty Creek Road area. She currently has a PO Box address in Blackey, about 10 miles away. According to the rental property's landlord, Sandlin had gone out that evening to visit a nearby home to get some paint. Her body was discovered near the path of the rental house. She was found about 1:00 am.
WYMT sent a reporter to Jeremiah, who spoke to KSP Trooper Matt Gayheart. "The female left her residence to go to a neighboring residence just up the road," Gayheart said. "Family members got concerned when she did not return. So, they went out looking for her and they actually located her over an embankment." No foul play is suspected. he added that animal attacks are not common in the area. Her body was transported the state Medical Examiner's Office in Frankfort for an autopsy.
On Sandlin's most recent Facebook page, she mentions friends living just a few miles away in Red Fox. One day before her death, she posted a sepia toned pit bull photograph with the words, "RIP Achille's Lee McIntosh." Its meaning is unknown. After the death of Godsey, who was discovered in a wooded area 1,500 feet up a hillside in Knott County, it took police six months to determine his cause of death. Inevitably, this gave rise to different paranormal theories that continued years after his death.
Relative Speaks Out
Late Tuesday, Sandlin's grandson, Austin McIntosh, left comments on a "freelance journalist" post. "It was Carlos Bentley's dogs that killed my grandmother. The police were called months before this to put his dogs down after they attacked a little boy and he had to be sent to Lexington but the police were too scared to do anything alongside with the dog warden. Now my grandmother Trina Sandlin is dead because of the dogs." He said the dogs involved were, "pit bulls mixed and starved to death."
According to online offender searches, Bentley is currently serving out a probation term. Past addresses include residences in the 1600 and 1700 block of Doty Creek Road in Jeremiah. According to McIntosh, the dogs attacked and "almost killed" the little boy in the past few months. "I need help getting justice for her cause ... the owner of the dogs and the law is going to let him get away with this," he said. McIntosh left similar comments on Trooper Gayheart's post about Sandlin's death.
The grandson of a Letcher county woman killed by dogs calls out alleged dog owner.
Eastern Kentucky area of Letcher County, Knott County and Doty Creek Road.
Related articles:
08/13/20: 2020 Dog Bite Fatality: Cause of Death Determined - Teenager Killed by Dogs in Knott County, Eastern Kentucky
Baseline reporting requirements:
Law enforcement departments across the United States should release consistent "baseline" information to the media and the public after each fatal dog mauling, including these items.
