WILKES-BARRE — Authorities in Luzerne County have dropped charges of obstructing the police against two former occupants of a house on Carlisle Street, where decomposed human remains were discovered last month.
Jason Paul Race, 43, and Faith Beamer, 39, continue to be in custody as of Thursday, following the dismissal of two counts of obstruction of justice and one count of obstructing an investigation into child abuse earlier this week.
Race has been in custody since March 9 at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility, while Beamer has been detained since March 1 and was transferred to the Monroe County Prison on March 12, where she remains.
Prosecutors mentioned that Wilkes-Barre police will be reintroducing the charges against the pair.
Race and Beamer, who lived at 142 Carlisle St., were accused by city police of impeding officers who were conducting a welfare check on a girl suspected of being sexually assaulted in July 2023, according to court documents.
Police visited the Carlisle Street property after discovering a man with facial injuries in the vicinity of Carey Avenue and Division Street on July 27, 2023.
According to court records, the injured man alleged that he was confined in the basement of 142 Carlisle St. after being accused of sexually assaulting the child.
While officers were attempting to check on the well-being of the girl, Race and Beamer obstructed their entry into the property and claimed that the girl was not present, as per court documents.
The police eventually found the girl and an infant in a bedroom.
Decomposed human remains were discovered in the basement of the Carlisle Street residence on Feb. 28, based on information provided by Wilkes-Barre police detectives Matthew Stash and James Conmy.
The property was under police control for two days while the state police Troop P Forensic Services Unit, city police, and students from the anthropology course at Mercyhurst University in Erie aided in collecting the decaying remains.
In a joint news release earlier this week, District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce, Wilkes-Barre Police Chief Joseph Coffay, and Coroner Jill Matthews confirmed that the decaying remains found are human and that the identity has not yet been determined.
In a news release issued on Tuesday, investigators stated that they are searching for Debra Jane Fox, who formerly owned the home with her husband Daniel Fox in early 2023. The property was sold during a Luzerne County upset sale in September 2023.
