FAIRVIEW PARK, Ohio — One of the kayakers who found the bodies of Carnell Sledge, 40, and Katherine Brown, 33, in the Rocky River Reservation is speaking publicly for the first time.
“It was 5:20 in the afternoon 75 degrees out and there was plenty of traffic, people running, people on bikes, people driving by and I was just shocked that we were the first ones to see them,” he says.
He didn’t want to be identified but says he and his girlfriend were just arriving at the park to kayak when they saw a man lying next to a bench and went to see if he was okay.
“Immediately I noticed there was some blood splatter on the ground and then I turned around to my girlfriend and I told her to call the police.”
He says he walked around frantically for a moment and pulled his phone out to start calling the police.
“That’s when I noticed there was another person on the scene and she was face down in the water on the riverbank.”
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is offering a $20,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest and conviction.
RELATED: FBI offering $20,000 reward for information on possible suspects in Rocky River Metroparks killings
The incident happened on June 4th near the Lorain Road bridge, east of Valley Parkway.
Investigators have insisted this is an isolated incident and the Metroparks are safe.
“It seems like it could’ve been an isolated incident to me and it looked like maybe they were targeted rather than this being a serial killer,” says the kayaker.
“My heart goes out to the family.”