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Police: Girard man who killed himself dumped woman’s body
By jeanne starmack
boardman
Police say a woman whose body was found on a road in Youngstown died in Boardman Township and was taken there by a man who hanged himself in Girard.
Boardman Police Chief Jack Nichols said Shaina Criss, 21, of West Virginia died at the Town and Country Motel on Market Street. Her body was found Sept. 17 on Keogh Avenue near McGuffey Road.
Boardman Capt. Donald Hawkins said Donald Zuppo, 44, a Girard resident who hanged himself in Girard’s Liberty Park on Sept. 19, found Criss dead in her motel room, possibly of a drug overdose.
Zuppo took her to the East Side and left her along the road, Hawkins said.
Hawkins said police were unsure of the relationship between Criss and Zuppo.
Hawkins said Zuppo was supposed to talk to Youngstown police about the death but instead hanged himself.
Criss had family in Girard, Hawkins said.
Police were called to Liberty Park at 12:30 p.m. Sept. 19 after a man running in the park saw Zuppo’s body hanging from a tree branch. Police in Girard said he hanged himself with an electrical cord.
The Mahoning County Coroner’s office said toxicology results for Criss are not ready. There was no sign of blunt trauma on her body, Hawkins said.