Wilkes-Barre residence at 142 Carlisle St. where decomposed human remains were found in the basement on Feb. 28, 2024.
Times Leader File Photo
Police are expected to refile charges
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WILKES-BARRE — Luzerne County prosecutors this week dismissed police obstruction charges against two former tenants of a Carlisle Street house where decomposed human remains were found last month.
Jason Paul Race, 43, and Faith Beamer, 39, remained jailed Thursday two days after prosecutors dismissed two counts of obstruction of justice and a single count of obstructing a child abuse investigation.
Race has been jailed since March 9 at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility and Beamer has been jailed since March 1 but was transferred March 12 to the Monroe County Prison where she remains.
Prosecutors noted Wilkes-Barre police will be refiling the charges against the pair.
Race and Beamer, while residing at 142 Carlisle St., were charged by city police with obstructing officers seeking to conduct a welfare check on a girl who may had been sexually assaulted in July 2023, according to court records.
Police went to the Carlisle Street residence after finding a man with facial injuries in the area of Carey Avenue and Division Street on July 27, 2023.
The injured man claimed he was held against his will in the basement of 142 Carlisle St. after being accused of sexually assaulting the child, court records say.
As officers attempted to check on the welfare of the girl, court records say, Race and Beamer obstructed officers from entering the residence and claimed the girl was not inside.
Police eventually found the girl and an infant in a bedroom.
Decomposed human remains were found in the basement of the Carlisle Street residence on Feb. 28 based on information received by Wilkes-Barre police detectives Matthew Stash and James Conmy.
The house remained under police control for two days as state police Troop P Forensic Services Unit, city police and students in the anthropology course at Mercyhurst University in Erie assisted in collecting the decomposed remains.
Earlier this week, District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce, Wilkes-Barre Police Chief Joseph Coffay and Coroner Jill Matthews in a joint news release confirmed the decomposed remains are human and the identity has not been confirmed.
In the news release issued Tuesday, investigators say they are searching for Debra Jane Fox, who formerly owned the home with her husband Daniel Fox in early 2023. The residence was sold during a Luzerne County upset sale in September 2023.