Remains of Lima girl, 14, missing since 1999 unearthed

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LIMA, Ohio — The remains of a 14-year-old Lima girl who vanished in 1999 were found after the home where she was last seen was demolished, police said.

Police confirmed that the remains of Nicholle Coppler were unearthed during excavation work at the site of the home of Glen Fryer, who was a suspect in the girl’s disappearance.

The home was demolished after the state took possession because of unpaid taxes. The teen’s remains were found in a crawl space as the home’s foundation was being dug out.

The discovery was made Feb. 8, Lima police said Sunday.

Discovery of the remains has prompted police to reopen the investigation into the girl’s death, and they said they will pursue anyone who played a role.

Lima police held a news conference Saturday and confirmed that the remains were those of the Lima teen. Dental records were used to identify the remains.

Several years ago, the FBI, working with the Lima police, used sophisticated electronic equipment to probe the entire lot of Fryer’s home and concluded her body was not outside the home.

Miss Coppler reportedly was last seen with Fryer in May, 1999.

Two years later, he was arrested on multiple counts of rape and child pornography involving four area girls.

When police searched his Lima home, they found Miss Coppler’s identification card, photos of her, and a hair accessory containing strands of her hair.

Fryer pleaded no contest to the charges and agreed to talk with police about Miss Coppler as part of a plea bargain, but he hanged himself Feb. 18, 2002, in the Allen County jail without saying a word about what had happened to Miss Coppler.

In June, 2006, Lima police working with a team of forensic anthropologists and archaeologists from Ohio State University searched an area that investigators were told could contain the Lima girl’s remains.

But they found only animal bones.

At that time, a Lima police officer said he considered the teen’s disappearance a murder investigation rather than a missing-person case.

The area searched in 2006 was on the property of Glendora Fryer, Fryer’s mother, whom police considered a prime suspect in Miss Coppler’s disappearance.

For several years, flyers containing age-progressed photos of Miss Coppler were posted throughout the area.

Relatives had said that Miss Coppler’s new friends had introduced her to Fryer, an acquaintance of the mother of one of the teenagers.

They later told police they last saw Nicholle with Fryer on May 31, 1999.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.