Police, prosecutors wait on lab results in death of Beckemeyer toddler

Authorities said on Monday that pending lab work has temporarily halted their investigation in the August death of a Beckemeyer 2-year-old.

Jensen Voss was struck and killed by a car in a Keyesport driveway the afternoon of Aug. 7. The toddler was in a parked car and climbed out when his mother was closing the rear hatch, police said at the time of his death.

She did not realize the boy wasn’t in the car and began to drive away, striking and killing the child.

Clinton County Det. Sgt. Charlie Becherer said investigators presented the case to prosecutors in October. Before filing any charges, however, attorneys requested additional lab work be conducted on some of the evidence collected.

“Sometimes it does take quite a while to get items back from the crime lab,” Becherer said Monday.

Voss died in the driveway of 21919 Fourth St., where court records indicated a 43-year-old man facing two meth charges resided.

That man, Ryan N. Rensing, told the BND in August that there were no drugs being used the day the child was struck and killed.

He said the toddler’s mother was hanging out with a mutual friend at his house, but Rensing said he hadn’t seen or talked to the child’s mother the whole day.

This story was originally published January 8, 2018 at 2:26 PM with the headline "Police, prosecutors wait on lab results in death of Beckemeyer toddler."