Ex-boyfriend is held in murder of Akron woman

by Anthony Glassman

New Franklin, Ohio--An Akron woman was murdered by her ex-boyfriend, police say, after years of custody battles over their six-year-old daughter.

Ashley Biggs, 25, disappeared less than an hour after midnight on June 21 while delivering a pizza for her employers, Domino?s, in Akron. Biggs? girlfriend, Brittany Dunson, said that the couple were concerned because of her ex-boyfriend?s history of violent behavior. He pleaded guilty to domestic violence in 2005.

Chad Cobb, 30, is being held on a $1.5 million bond in the murder of Biggs, whose body was found in her car in Chippewa Township before noon on June 21. She showed signs of blunt force trauma to her head, and was strangled to death with a zip-tie.

Biggs was called to a business on West Turkeyfoot Lake Road after midnight on June 21; when she had not returned by 1 am, a missing persons report was put in for her. The address was unrelated to Cobb, but investigators believe that is why the pizza order was called in for there. Police found blood on the ground, and marks indicating that someone was dragged.

Police Chief Dan Davidson of New Franklin told the Akron Beacon-Journal that Cobb was not talking, and that he had ?lawyered up.?

He believes the call was used to get Biggs out to the location to attack her. When they learned from Biggs? coworkers that she was involved in a custody dispute with Cobb, they went to question him, and found him hiding in some woods near a relative?s house.

Their daughter lived with Cobb, his wife Erika and his three other children. A custody order was filed in 2007 giving Cobb custody, and things seemed fine until last October, when filings between the two became a regular occurrence. Biggs alleged that Cobb changed his phone number in violation of custody orders, while Cobb alleged that Biggs was trying to alienate his daughter.

Cobb filed a protective order to stop Dunson from seeing the little girl. Neighbors said he opposed Biggs? relationship with Dunson.

The daughter is in the custody of the Stark County Department of Job and Family Services.

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