Police quiet on investigation into human remains found in Fox Chapel, connection to man suspected in Baldwin homicide

The Fox Chapel man in jail after being accused of killing a Baldwin man — and who now faces questions after police found human remains near his parents’ house — had six run-ins with the law over four months in 2019, according to court records.

Adam Rosenberg, 21, is in jail and has been charged with homicide, robbery, tampering with evidence and firearms violations in connection with the Feb. 15 death of Jeremy Dentel, 28, of Baldwin. He was arrested Feb. 19.

On March 3, police found unburied human remains on a wooded lot near the Rosenbergs’ house on Settlers Ridge Road. The remains were of Christian Moore-Rouse, 22, of Verona, according to his mother, Lee Reed. She said her son had been missing since December and that he was last seen in Penn Hills.

Neighbors of the Rosenbergs in Fox Chapel had no comment Wednesday night.

As of Wednesday evening, police have not released new information regarding the human remains, including to whom the remains belong or whether they are connected to Rosenberg.

“At this time, the Medical Examiner’s Office has not released the identity of the person discovered on Settlers Ridge Road yesterday,” said Allegheny County Police Superintendent Coleman McDonough in a statement Wednesday.

“County police investigators will not be returning to the scene today, nor do we anticipate any criminal charges being filed today, unless investigative developments indicate otherwise,” he said.

Allegheny County police are handling the investigation, and Fox Chapel police are assisting.

Rosenberg’s trouble with the law began when he was arrested in March 2019 by Duquesne University police for disorderly conduct and two summary counts of harassment. He entered a guilty plea in August.

He was then arrested in April by Ross police and charged with disorderly conduct and retail theft, both summary offenses. He pleaded guilty to both in September.

Rosenberg was arrested a third time in May by Hampton police and charged with possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, a DUI and public drunkenness. The possession charges were withdrawn. The public drunkenness charge was dismissed through the Accelerated Rehabilitation Disposition program. He was sentenced a 12-month probation related to the DUI.

In July, Rosenberg was charged in three different incidents that happened within eight days by police in O’Hara and Harmar and at UPMC. Rosenberg entered guilty pleas for harassment in O’Hara and for retail theft in Harmar. He was found not guilty for harassment after UPMC filed a non-traffic citation.

Casey Mullen, one of Rosenberg’s attorneys, declined to comment on the charges his client faced in 2019.

Mullen is part of a team of three attorneys, including Wendy Williams and Casey White, who are representing Rosenberg.

In some cases, the charges first appeared on a criminal docket but were then moved over to a non-traffic docket.

Attorney Phil DiLucente said this practice is common because it gives defendants the opportunity to plead guilty at the district court level and pay a fine, as opposed to having a public hearing, which could result in a trial.

“It’s quasi-criminal when a charge appears on a non-traffic docket,” DiLucente said. “There’s no risk of the case moving forward. So it’s an expeditious way to handle lower-grade offenses, and it concludes the matter.”

He said the move helps defendants with current and future employment because criminal background checks will only show a non-traffic offense instead of a criminal offense.

Staff writers Michael DiVittorio and Madasyn Lee contribued to this report. Dillon Carr is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Dillon at 412-871-2325, dcarr@tribweb.com or via Twitter @dillonswriting.