Cold Case: Ohio Man Linked To 1986 Killing In Texas

QUAKER CITY, OH — An Ohio man has been arrested in connection with a 1986 killing in Texas, law enforcement officials announced Wednesday.

Mark Gatten, 57, from Quaker City, became a suspect in a cold case investigation started by the Texas Rangers.

In March, the Rangers reviewed evidence from the 1986 death of Charles Robert Hardin, which happened in Canyon Lake. Campers found Hardin dead at a campsite at Jacob's Creek Park. He had been bound and his body was partially decomposed, according to the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung.

His death was ruled a homicide by asphyxiation by investigators.

Police were stifled while trying to find suspects in Hardin's death. For more than 30 years, the case grew cold. Finally, in March 2021, the Texas Rangers were asked to review the case.

Using newly developed technology, the Rangers connected Gatten and Tracey Loy, 56, from Utah, to the killing, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced. Ohio law enforcement was asked to locate Gatten.

On May 26, the Guernsey County Sheriff's office took Gatten into custody. He now awaits extradition to Texas, Yost said. Loy is already being held in Texas.

“The combination of modern forensic technology and old-fashioned detective work can solve cold cases, even when there are many years and miles separating the culprits and their crimes,” Yost said. “The Bureau of Criminal Investigation is proud to partner with law enforcement within Ohio and beyond.”