On May 19, at approximately 10:20 a.m., officers from the Indiana State Police, the Miami County Sheriff’s Department, and conservation officers from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources responded to a possible death, on the Okie Pinokie Trail, near the area of State Road 124 and Miami County Road 510 East.
The preliminary investigation by Indiana State Police detectives revealed that two men were mushroom hunting, in a wooded area on the Okie Pinokie Trail, near State Road 124 and Miami County Road 510 East. The men allegedly found the body of a deceased male. The deceased male was identified as Drake Allan Smith, 22, Summitville, IN.
An autopsy revealed that Smith’s death was a homicide.
During the course of the investigation, detectives developed enough probable cause to be granted arrest warrants for Ethan D. Cain, 21, Marion, IN, and Joshua C. Kean, 23, Lafontaine, IN. Cain faces criminal charges for murder, obstruction of justice, and theft. Kean faces charges for assisting a criminal, obstruction of justice, and theft.
Monday at approximately 4:00 a.m., Ethan Cain was arrested by officers from the Imperial County California Sheriff’s Department. He was taken into custody after the Imperial County Sheriff’s Department SWAT Team raided a campground to arrest Cain and Kean on the warrants from Indiana. Cain was taken into custody but Kean was not captured. Earlier, the pair had been seen together when they had contact with an Imperial County Sheriff’s Deputy. They were not taken into custody at that time because the officer received a delayed response revealing the warrants for their arrests.
Cain is incarcerated in the Imperial County Jail awaiting extradition proceedings.
This morning Joshua Kean was arrested in Imperial County California. Kean waived down a group that was driving by his location requesting assistance. Kean was about a mile from the campground where officers had arrested Cain on Monday. Kean did not have any food nor water and appeared to be suffering from the effects of dehydration. The group contacted local law enforcement officers who were able to identify Kean and arrest him on the Indiana warrant. Kean was transported to the Pioneers Memorial Hospital where he is expected to remain hospitalized for the next couple of days. He is being treated for the effects the severe southern California weather conditions had on his body while on the run from law enforcement.
When Kean is released from the hospital, he will be booked into the Imperial County California Jail pending extradition proceedings.
Anyone with information about this case is encouraged to contact Indiana State Police detectives by calling the Indiana State Police Peru Post at 1-800-382-0689 or 765-473-6666.
No further information will be released at this time.