LISBON — It has been two years since Columbiana County Sheriff Ray Stone asked state investigators to take a look at the evidence in two unsolved local murders.

“I’d like to send them a dozen, but we could only give them two,” he said of the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI), which was handed the case files in the William Young Jr. and Melinda Todd murders in January 2016.

BCI has a cold case bureau and several years ago offered to review the evidence gathered in some of the county’s unsolved murders. Stone and his detectives came up with a list of four homicide cases he planned to submit to BCI for review — Young, Todd, Timothy Wamsley and Sherry Ieropoli — but were told they would take only two at this time. Stone said they gave them the Young and Todd murders because they were among the most recent murders and the ones he believes had enough evidence.

“We just wanted a second opinion, a fresh set of eyes to review the evidence” and determine whether they might be missing something, Stone said. “We’ve done everything we can, and we’ll let them see if there’s anything more we can do.”

The sheriff’s office has yet to hear anything definitive from BCI. “We call them from time to time, but nothing yet as far as I know,” he said. “I had no idea it would take this long, but I’m sure they’re busy, too.”

Sheriff’s Detective Jeff Haugh said he last spoke about the cases with BCI in early November, and the discussions are ongoing.

“We touch base every few months, and we continue to do some things (at BCI’s suggestion) and they continue to do some things,” Haugh said.

The following facts are what is known publicly about the two cases submitted to BCI:

— William S. Young Jr., 69, was found shot to death Aug. 11, 2010, in the woods behind his home on Spring Valley Road near Highlandtown. Authorities found his body after being alerted by Huntington National Bank officials in Calcutta that someone posing as Young tried to cash a $3,500 check for cash from Young’s account.

That person was Charles R. Bogart Jr., 42, who was identified as a person of interest in the murder after he was stopped while driving Young’s pickup truck and also found to have Young’s wallet on him. A search warrant found more of Young’s property at Bogart’s home on Hazel Run Road, Salineville. Then investigators found Young’s PT Cruiser hidden across the road from Bogart’s property in high weeds and shrubs.

Bogart was later charged with receiving stolen property, forgery, identity theft and misuse of credit cards — 18 crimes in all, 17 in which Young was the victim. He entered an Alford Plea, which is a guilty plea where the defendant still maintains his innocence, and was sentenced to six years in prison in September 2011. Bogart was released at the end of 2014, based on mandatory credit for time spent in the county jail while awaiting the outcome of all the charges.

— Melinda Todd, 43, was found beaten to death with a blunt instrument in her home on state Route 45 in Salem Township on Dec. 3, 2012. Injured in the attack was Todd’s grandson, who was 5 at the time and living with her. The boy had to undergo several surgeries because of his head wounds and months of physical therapy.

In December 2015, WKBN reported that sheriff’s detectives submitted the updated Todd file to the prosecutor’s office that fall in the hopes an indictment would follow. Stone later submitted the case to BCI along with the Young case.

The same report stated the authorities believes the Todd murder was drug related and there is a person of interest in the case.

The decision to bring charges in any case is up to county Prosecutor Robert Herron, and it is the sheriff’s “responsibility to investigate and solve criminal cases,” he said, in an email.

“The Prosecutor’s Office shares the same goals as BCI and welcome their involvement. BCI conducts investigations. It has never been their role to make determinations whether to prosecute. The sheriff should know that. My office will review the BCI investigation, as we have in thousands of other cases, and will determine if there is sufficient evidence to prosecute,” Herron said.