A woman was found dead after being attacked by dogs in Letcher County, Kentucky.
Woman Found Dead
Letcher County, KY - A woman is dead after being attacked by canines -- dogs presumably, not the rare "death by coyote" possibility. Trina Sandlin, 57, left her home on the evening of June 9 and never returned. "Family members located Sandlin near her home over an embankment and had suffered injuries consistent with an animal attack," states a release by the Kentucky State Police (KSP). The attack site is located about 20 miles from where Corey Godsey, 13, was killed by dogs in 2020.
Kentucky State Police - Jeremiah, Ky (June 10, 2024) – On Sunday, June 9, 2024, at approximately 12:58 A.M, Kentucky State Police, Post 13, Hazard, received a 911 call in reference to a female being located deceased on Doty Creek in the Jeremiah community of Letcher County.
Troopers, along with detectives responded to the scene. The deceased female was identified as Trina Sandlin, 57 of Jerimiah. Preliminary investigation indicates that Sandlin had left her residence earlier in the evening to go to a neighbor’s residence but never returned. Family members located Sandlin near her home over an embankment and had suffered injuries consistent with an animal attack.
Sandlin was pronounced deceased on scene by the Letcher County Coroner’s Office and transported to the Medial Examiners Office in Frankfort for an autopsy. This incident remains under investigation by Detective Brandon Thomas.
Letcher County Coroner Perry Fowler said Sandlin was attacked by canines, but could not say if they were dogs or coyotes, reports the Lexington Herald Leader. Sandlin had rented a house in the Doty Creek Road area. She currently has a PO Box address in Blackey, about 10 miles away. According to the rental property's landlord, Sandlin had gone out that evening to visit a nearby home to get some paint. Her body was discovered near the path of the rental house. She was found about 1:00 am.
WYMT sent a reporter to Jeremiah, who spoke to KSP Trooper Matt Gayheart. "The female left her residence to go to a neighboring residence just up the road," Gayheart said. "Family members got concerned when she did not return. So, they went out looking for her and they actually located her over an embankment." No foul play is suspected. he added that animal attacks are not common in the area. Her body was transported the state Medical Examiner's Office in Frankfort for an autopsy.
On Sandlin's most recent Facebook page, she mentions friends living just a few miles away in Red Fox. One day before her death, she posted a sepia toned pit bull photograph with the words, "RIP Achille's Lee McIntosh." Its meaning is unknown. After the death of Godsey, who was discovered in a wooded area 1,500 feet up a hillside in Knott County, it took police six months to determine his cause of death. Inevitably, this gave rise to different paranormal theories that continued years after his death.
Relative Speaks Out
Late Tuesday, Sandlin's grandson, Austin McIntosh, left comments on a "freelance journalist" post. "It was Carlos Bentley's dogs that killed my grandmother. The police were called months before this to put his dogs down after they attacked a little boy and he had to be sent to Lexington but the police were too scared to do anything alongside with the dog warden. Now my grandmother Trina Sandlin is dead because of the dogs." He said the dogs involved were, "pit bulls mixed and starved to death."
According to online offender searches, Bentley is currently serving out a probation term. Past addresses include residences in the 1600 and 1700 block of Doty Creek Road in Jeremiah. According to McIntosh, the dogs attacked and "almost killed" the little boy in the past few months. "I need help getting justice for her cause ... the owner of the dogs and the law is going to let him get away with this," he said. McIntosh left similar comments on Trooper Gayheart's post about Sandlin's death.
Bentley is the Landlord
The Mountain Eagle reports that Carlos Bentley was Sandlin's landlord. Officials confirmed the previous attack, which occurred in April on the same property, that left a child severely injured. No charges and no lawsuit were ever filed, officials said. Sandlin had left her rental home before dark "to get paint for the house from her landlord, Carlos R. Bentley. She apparently never arrived," reports the Eagle. It was Sandlin's companion and Bentley that discovered her body and called police.
After the April attack, the Letcher County dog warden and a deputy with the Letcher County Sheriff’s Office went to the property and were told the dogs had been killed after the boy was bitten. Sheriff Mickey Stines said he advised the family to see the county attorney, but they never went. Stines and other county officials were under the impression the dogs involved were dead until Sandlin's death. Letcher County Coroner Perry Fowler said he retained Sandlin’s clothing for DNA testing.
The grandson of a Letcher county woman killed by dogs calls out alleged dog owner.
Eastern Kentucky area of Letcher County, Knott County and Doty Creek Road.
Related articles:
08/13/20: 2020 Dog Bite Fatality: Cause of Death Determined - Teenager Killed by Dogs in Knott County, Eastern Kentucky
Law enforcement departments across the United States should release consistent "baseline" information to the media and the public after each fatal dog mauling, including these items.
Poor lady what a confusing story did she get killed by coyote or dogs.was she kill by pitbull or gs was it her dogs that kill her or her neighbor dogs or loose dogs. Why aren’t they tell us what killed her.
she was not Killed by coyotes i’m very knowledgeable about coyotes
To me, “over an embankment” sounds a bit like “into a ditch,” which is one place we know pitbulls like to drag their victims.
Trina was my friend . Her is the father of my granddaughter. I don’t understand any of this. If there is a wild dog problem. Why isnt it looked into. Herbfamily is broken.
I saw where Austin is speaking out. I haven’t talked to him. I have talked to his sister a little. The family is tore up.
These poor victims of loose Dog packs, especially when the cases have been reported and nothing is done to keep the public safe. In a southern rural type setting, you’d think SSS would be the norm.
It seems like loose dogs are normal there. What happened to animal control? Dogs should never be loose without the presence of an owner or responsible adult.
Because of Animal Control, I can safely assume any loose dogs here have somehow gotten loose. I’ve rescued loose dogs but no pitbulls. They are usually loose due to owners who let them loose.
I love my GSD. I would never let him or any of my previous GSDs run loose. I regard his safety and the safety of others that important.
Why cannot dog owners behave responsibly with their dogs? Does anyone want to see their dogs shot? Or is that just cheap euthanasia?
What a tragic loss of a life due to irresponsible dog owners!
I only hope the family can get it together and find a plaintiffs attorney. The city/police/animal control must be sued, hopefully receiving a judgement that is high enough to get national attention.
I believe her family will do just that, after the shock subsides. A little boy was attack about a month before Trina was attacked. It’s believ3d it was the same dogs. Something needs to be done. Such a senseless death.
When you’re told, by the dog owner(s), that a dog has been “put down” during your investigation of an attack it is your obligation as the investigating officer to confirm that. You get the details of where, when, and who euthanized the animal. I don’t recall how many times I’ve been lied to as an ACO. Which is exactly why you confirm the facts before you write your report. If, in this situation, the responding officer(s) did not follow through and confirm the dog(s) had been euthanized they are derelict in their duty.
It had escaped my attention that the landlord and the owner of the killer dog are one in the same person: Carlos Bentley, the convicted felon who is on probation. Using your dog to kill a person isn’t a violation of probation, I suppose? Will there be any justice here? This is Kentucky, one of the poorest and most backward states in the union – not that other states are handling the pitbull problem much better, as far as I know.