Kadie Lancaster, who worked to uncover sex trafficking, found dead at 33

Kadie Lancaster, a Scioto County woman who worked tirelessly to uncover the truth about what happened to her missing sister-in-law has died, officials said.

The Scioto County Coroner's Office confirmed Lancaster was found deceased Saturday. She was 33. There has been no official word on how Lancaster died.

Officials said her body was taken to Montgomery County for an autopsy. Preliminary results from the autopsy were not available Monday, but could be within the week.

A final autopsy will take eight to 12 weeks to complete, officials said.

The Scioto County Sheriff's Office stated that the Portsmouth Police Department is handling the case. A police report states she was found at at approximately 6:21 a.m. at a residence in the 1100 block of Fourth Street. Police officials did not reply to requests for comment at the time of publication.

Lancaster worked closely with reporters and law enforcement in an effort to find her sister-in-law, Megan Lancaster, who disappeared in April 2013 from Portsmouth, a small river city about 100 miles east of Cincinnati. 

Police found Megan's white Ford Mustang outside a fast food restaurant with her wallet left on the front seat.

The Lancasters believe Michael Mearan, a former Portsmouth city councilman and lawyer facing multiple felonies related to sex trafficking, was involved with Megan's disappearance. Mearan has maintained his innocence throughout multiple investigations and during the current case against him, in which he faces nearly 20 felonies.

Mearan's trial is scheduled for January.

When her sister-in-law went missing, Kadie Lancaster found names and phone numbers Megan kept in color-coded notebooks. The entries included notations such as "dance for" and "men who give money," and included Mearan's name and number.