Teen’s Death Under Investigation

ALBA — Wood County officials said the circumstances surrounding the death of a 16-year-old boy were suspicious. Loren Saunders was found about last Wednesday morning around 1:30 with a single gunshot wound to the chest at Chaney Point RV Park on County Road 1590 in Wood County. Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the residence after Saunders’ father reported his son had been shot, and he was doing CPR on him, officials said.

The case was turned over to the Wood County District Attorney’s Office for further investigation after the medical examiner’s office said evidence didn’t add up to the death being considered accidental. At the time, investigator William Burge said Saunders’ cause of death was ruled accidental, because Saunders’ father told authorities he caught him playing with the .22 caliber handgun at their home in Alba.