CLEVELAND — As the Cleveland Division of Police continues to try to unravel what happened to Lachelle Jordan, the EMT who was found safe last week after being missing for five days, stalking charges have been dropped against Michael Stennett.
Stennett made a brief appearance in Cleveland Municipal Court on Thursday morning in which a judge granted the state’s request for dismissal without prejudice.
We streamed Stennett's full court appearance live, which you can watch in the video below:
The 65-year-old Stennett was indicted on two counts of rape and one count of abduction last May. Those charges remain in effect.
Sources previously told 3News that Stennett and Jordan knew each other, and both had been due in court on May 8 for a pretrial hearing. Jordan had been called in to testify. But before he could arrive, Stennett, who had been out on bond, was arrested and charged with violating a protective order and menacing by stalking that was filed by Jordan.
Stennett has not been implicated in Jordan's disappearance. He was released on personal bond with a GPS monitor and ordered to have no contact with Jordan.
On Wednesday evening, Lexi Bauer from the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office confirmed to 3News that the charge of stalking against Stennett will be dropped due to "inconsistent evidence."
“A joint motion to reduce the bond was filed because at this point we have inconsistent evidence to substantiate the stalking complaint against Michael Stennett," Bauer told 3News. "Tomorrow (Thursday), that case will be dismissed and the investigation will continue. Any further charging decisions will be made after a thorough investigation is complete. Numerous law enforcement agencies are involved in the investigation. We decline to comment further at this point.”
Jordan was reported missing on May 6 after having last been seen on East 116th Street and Fairport Avenue. She was located around 11 p.m. on May 11 at a convenience store in the 16600 block of Euclid Avenue. Police also say Jordan was taken to the Cleveland Clinic for medical treatment, but did not elaborate.
During a briefing on Saturday, the Jordan family did confirm that Lachelle was currently hospitalized but also said "her spirits are up." When asked how she was able to get to safety on the night she was found, her father simply said, "She ran."
The Jordan family did not make any further comments on the details of her disappearance due to the ongoing investigation by police.
Jordan became a Cleveland EMT after graduating this past January. Dave Jockers, vice president of the Cleveland Association of Rescue Employees (CARE) says Jordan was worried someone was following her.
"I was made aware from the division that she may have been having an issue of stalking," Jockers told 3News' Lydia Esparra, "but we didn't know the extent of it."
However, Jockers says the alleged stalker would show up at places where Jordan was working. It got so bad that she was transferred to EMS headquarters within City Hall.
"Oh, she seemed scared," Jockers admitted. "She was scared."