Gear tampering trial scheduled for June

VW independent news

A five day jury trial has been scheduled for a Middle Point man charged with tampering with evidence.

The trial for Dale Gear, 57, was scheduled for June 6-10 during a January 27 pre-trial hearing in Van Wert County Common Pleas Court. Court records show Gear signed a time waiver during the hearing.

Gear was indicted by a grand jury in August, 2021, in connection with the June, 2016 disappearance of Kori Glossett of Van Wert. Investigators learned that Gear had bonded Glossett out of jail June 24, 2016. Glossett disappeared the following day and has not been seen since.

Investigators took samples of suspected blood from Gear’s home, garage and truck, but there were problems caused by limits on testing at the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation.

Gear’s property was searched again in July, 2021, and a bag with a towel and other items was found in a laundry chute in the home. Investigators said the bag was not at the location during the search five years earlier.

The indictment, filed days after the search, alleges that Gear did, on or about June 24, 2016, “alter, destroy, conceal or remove” potential evidence connected to Glossett’s disappearance.

Gear is free on a recognizance bond pending his trial.