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[Music] our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents if you feel at any
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time you need support please contact your local crisis center for suggested phone numbers for confidential support
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and for a more detailed list of content warnings please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our
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website today's episode involves crimes against children and won't be suitable for all
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[Music] listeners over the Memorial Day weekend in late March 2004 7-year-old Emily higs
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left her bright pink bicycle outside her home in greyall Indiana when she went to retrieve it she
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noticed someone had left a Ziploc plastic bag in the bike's front basket inside the bag was an anonymous
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note written in pencil on Lin yellow paper it read hi honey I've been watching you I
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am the same person that kidnapped and raped and killed April Tinsley you are my next
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victim if you don't report this to police or I don't see this in the paper tomorrow or on the local news I will
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blow up your house killing everyone but you you will be mine the plastic bag also contained a
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used condom Emily took the items to her mother Crystal while Crystal was unsettled she
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was convinced it was a sick joke possibly the handiwork of one of her teenage son's
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friends the author's handwriting was messy and childlike it was also riddled with grammatical
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punctuation and spelling errors with simple words like will misspelled as w l l the name April Tinsley didn't ring any
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bells for Crystal higs whose family had only been living in the area for a couple of
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years but when she told a longtime Community member about the disturbing message they were visibly
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shaken they told Crystal you need to call the sheriff and have him come [Music] [Music]
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out schools across Indiana closed early on April 1 1988 on account of it being Good Friday a Christian holiday that
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marks the start of the Easter break April Tinsley who had recently celebrated her eighth birthday and was
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in the first grade left Fairfield Elementary at 11:30 a.m. she returned to her family's home
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on West Williams Street in the city of Fort Wayne it had been a cold and dreary morning so when a break in the weather
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arrived early that afternoon a sought to make the most of it she asked her mother
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Janet if she could go out and play with her friend Nicole who lived just a few blocks away on West suttonfield
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Street April had walked to and from Nicole's house many times before Janet said yes but told April to
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call home as soon as she got to Nicole's to confirm she'd arrived safely after lunch Janet handed April an
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umbrella and sent her on her way a short while later the Tinsley's phone rang it was April calling to check in as
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promised before hanging up Janet reminded April to be home by 400 p.m. to avoid the rain that had been
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forecast I got my umbrella April playfully replied when April failed to return home
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on time Janet Tinsley called Nicole's house seeking an explanation she learned that April and
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Nicole had spent most of the afternoon playing with dolls and excitedly discussing all the chocolate they
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planned to collect over Easter the girls then walked to a playground halfway between their homes where they met up
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with another friend Nicole said they'd left the playground a little after 3:00 p.m. to
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go to the third friend's house which was close by as the girls walked together it began
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to drizzle realizing she had left her umbrella at Nicole's house April decided to quickly go back there and get
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it the others continued on to their destination and when April didn't join them Nicole assumed she decided to go
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home instead when Nicole's mother told Janet Tinsley April never did come back here
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to get her umbrella Janet felt the blood rush from her body she was overcome with the feeling
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that something was very wrong Janet alerted her husband Michael and they immediately began walking the
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streets looking for April she was a Carefree child and they knew her to be a little silly with her
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favorite game being hide and seek they were also mindful that it was April Fool's Day maybe April was playing some
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kind of prank on them yet as time wore on with no sign of April Janet and Michael grew increasingly anxious
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at 6:00 p.m. Janet tearfully reported her daughter's disappearance to police officers arrived at the Tinsley
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home where April lived with her mother father and infant brother for as long as Janet could
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remember she had always wanted to be a mother in her teens she often told people that her first child was going to
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be a girl with blue eyes and curly blonde hair and her name would be April Marie J dreams came true on March 18
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1980 when April was born a cheerful child April always had a smile on her face and loved to make
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others laugh but she was also shy and typically stayed close to her mother her parents adored and doted on her losing
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her was devastating the police were sympathetic towards the Tinsley and took their
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concerns seriously immediately started retracing April's last known movements carrying a photo of
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her to Aid in their search they were also given a description of what April was wearing
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that day a blue turtleneck sweater with a pink and red jacket over the top a pair of light blue pants with three love
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hearts down one leg and pink gym shoes the area April had been walking covered only a few blocks which she'
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navigated many times before houses were door knocked and residents questioned every garage alley and
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abandoned building was checked but April was nowhere to be found the search radius expanded into
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the city's rural outskirts soon many volunteers were assisting police in their search as news of April's disappearance
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spread a local resident came forward to report an incident they'd seen earlier that day
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at around the time April went missing they saw a little girl walking along hogland Avenue along long Suburban
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street that led to April's home as the little girl crossed the street a Shabby blue pickup truck pulled
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up alongside her the witness glimpsed of the man behind the wheel he appeared nonchalant and the girl seemed equally
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unfaced when the pickuper drove off the girl was gone the witness didn't see or hear a
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struggle so they assumed the driver was the girl's father they described what they
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remembered about the girl specifically the light blue pants she'd been wearing that featured several distinctive love
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hearts trailing down one leg investigators were certain the witness had seen April Tinsley at the
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exact moment she was taken the pickup driver was described as a white man in his third s he had wavy
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Sandy colored hair with darker roots and a few days worth of beard growth seemingly no one knew
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him while crime wasn't unheard of in Fort Wayne child abduction was it had been over a decade since the last case
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of that nature the thought that a child could be snatched off the street in broad
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daylight led to local parents experiencing anxieties they had never felt before as night fell and April remained missing
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police settled on a worst case scenario they put out an all points bulletin for April certain she had
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indeed been taken the Frantic search continued and the community remained Vigilant fearful
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the perpetrator would strike again over that weekend a dozen police officers worked a collective 200 hours
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on the investigation but Easter passed with no break bre throughs on the afternoon of Monday
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April 4 a male jogger was running along County Road 68 in Spencerville a small unincorporated rural community 20 mi
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Northeast of Fort Wayne as he passed by remote farming fields and dense Woodland he spotted
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something in a rain swollen drainage ditch 40 ft from the roadside it was the body of April
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Tinsley April had been suffocated and strangled to death although she was fully clothed in the outfit she'd had on
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when she went missing it was clear she'd been redressed after being sexually assaulted her pants were on backwards
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and she was missing a shoe no foreign genetic matter was found on April's body but testing of her
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underwear revealed traces of seen in 1988 the role of DNA in criminal investigations was a relatively new and
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unknown concept but by chance in the days before April was murdered Fort Wayne detectives
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had completed a workshop on DNA evidence it taught them how to correctly collect and store April's Killer's DNA
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to ensure its integrity and Longevity DNA testing at the time required a large sample to Ain the
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subject's profile the minuscule amount recovered from April's underwear coupled with limitations in forensic technology
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prevented authorities from gleaning much still they respected its significance as a means of positively
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confirming April's killer once they had him in custody it would remain their one
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crucial piece of evidence as a thorough search of the crime scene and its surroundings failed to uncover anything
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that immediately identified a April's killer because no effort was made to conceal April's remains detectives knew
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they were dealing with an attention seeker who wanted his crime to be discovered the killer seemed to have an
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inflated sense of confidence that he wouldn't be found yet he wasn't entirely devoid of
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fear April's missing shoe was eventually found around 1,000 ft west of her body on the other side of the
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road police suspected that April's killer had dumped her in the ditch then realized as he drove off that one of her
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shoes was still in his vehicle scared of being seen if he returned to the dump site he tossed the
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shoe out of window as he sped away a medical examiner concluded that April had been killed one or two days
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prior to the discovery of her body County Road 68 was not the kind of place someone from out of town would be aware
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of however a reason to visit or happened to come across the killer must have been
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familiar with it and knew that his chances of being spotted there were slim this meant he was likely from Fort Wayne
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or one of its surrounding townships no one sprang to mind as a suspect the tinsel had no enemies and
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couldn't imagine who would want to harm their daughter known sex offenders who lived
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in the crimes vicinity were questioned by police but were gradually ruled out as having any
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involvement when word reached to detectives that there was an alleged sighting of a blue pickup truck near
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where April's body was found they took notice that was the same type of vehicle April's abductor had apparently been
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driving police examined thousands of blue pickup trucks across Indiana but nothing of value was
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uncovered a suspect sketch of the driver depicted a generic looking white man but
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Crimestoppers was inundated with calls from people who thought they knew him 140 of these calls implicated a
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34-year-old named Everett Shaw Jr sha was a local gang member known as moose when shown a photographic lineup
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featuring sha the ey witness from hogland Avenue identified him as April's abductor upon speaking with Sha's
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neighbor detectives leared that for several weeks there had been a blue pickup truck parked outside of Sha's
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home while sha didn't own such a vehicle he had access to one through a friend sha was also known to loiter
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around parks and make crude remarks about children he had been accused of molesting an 11-year-old girl though the
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case was ultimately dropped days before April Tinsley was Tak taken sha was allegedly overheard
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telling another person that he'd seen two girls playing and that he wanted to grab one of
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them the gang Everett schaw Jr belonged to had an interest in the occult prompting rumors that April's murder was
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some type of ritualistic sacrifice while this Theory became a Hot Topic amongst gossiping locals police
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concluded that it had no merit sha denied knowing anything about April ensle he passed several polygraph
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tests and when his DNA didn't match the sample from April's as salent he was released DNA samples from four
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additional suspects were tested only to be ruled out detectives continued to investigate
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the hundreds of tips that came in from suspicious men seen around the neighborhood to others who had recently
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changed their appearance whenever a new lead emerged police dropped everything to pursue it
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each time they reached a dead end in the immediate aftermath of April's murder the community struggled
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to return to any sense of normaly children now walked in groups and police patrolled streets near
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schools 90 locals formed a group called April which stood for abduction prevention reconnaissance and
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information League members ranged in AE age from 14 to 52 and their aims were to keep
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children safe raise money for victims of crime and educate young people on the importance of avoiding
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strangers the group's president insisted that they weren't Vigilantes they were just ensuring another tragedy didn't
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occur and it seemed like their efforts paid off 2 years passed without any further attacks
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in late May 1990 a teenage boy who lived on the northeastern rural outskirts of Fort Wayne noticed something peculiar
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going on someone had been lingering around his family's Barn the barn was just a few feet from a
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thoroughfare named Schwarz Road and backed on to a large secluded field the teen had gone to the barn and
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noticed a handwritten message Mage scrolled across the white weather-beaten planks of its exterior doors which faced
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the road the message had been written in pencil so it wasn't very clear on several occasions over the
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following days the teenager returned to the barn with each visit the writing on the
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door grew progressively darker and more legible it seemed the author was returning periodically to write over
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their message at first they used a white crayon which still wasn't visible enough to read the
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next time the message had been scribbled over with a black marker now the writing was
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clear I kill April Marie tisle the message read I kill again unnerved the teenager phoned the
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police it appeared as though the message was left by a child or someone with the
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mentality of one their handwriting grammar and punctuation were poor they'd also incorrectly spelled April's surname
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by forgetting the Yen and ended their message with the juvenile words haha it seemed anybody could have
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written it as a prank or to stir up a drama but there was one aspect to the message that gave investigators
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pause above the mocking laughter the author had written did you find the other [Music]
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shoe by this time all of the detectives originally assigned to the Tinsley case had been taken off to focus on other
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work while the case remained open and new tips were explored the investigation had definitely
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stagnated April's killer had seemingly fallen off the face of the Earth leaving authorities to assume that he'd fled
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elsewhere died or was somehow incapacitated and prevented from being a threat the barn message completely
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shattered this Theory and left detectives rattled the Schwarz Road Barn was located roughly 10 mi from where April's
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body was discovered the fact that she was found without one of her shoes which was discarded further down the road was
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a detail invest tigators had kept close to their chest they had never shared it with the
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media or the public and so it was never reported on or widely known this meant that the barn message
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must have been written by April's killer after two quiet years he had returned with the intention to kill
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again a search of the barn and its surrounds came up dry save for a few crayons strewn across the ground below
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the message these were tested for fingerprints but none were recovered and the teenager who reported
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the message never saw the person who wrote it yet it had given detectives greater
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inside into the perpetrator's psyche his message was intended to mock torment and provoke them in the words of
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one case detective it was a slap in the face toward the investigators and to the
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Tinley family and to April it made me mad it made us all very upset it was clear to investigators that
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the killer relished in spreading fear and gaining notoriety he avoided leaving any clues
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as to his identity and made sure he stayed out of sight this was someone who spent a lot
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of time strategizing even his terrible writing was deed to be deliberate detectives surmised that the
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killer intentionally wrote poorly so they couldn't identify him and would instead think he was young or had a
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developmental delay but his carefully plotted actions indicated otherwise investigators had no choice
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but to go public with the sample of the barn message to generate leads they knew that by doing so they
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were playing right into the Killer Hands by giving him the publicity he craved but detectives were more
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concerned that if he wasn't caught he could make good on his threat to kill again the writing sample elicited a few
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tip offs they didn't lead anywhere a few weeks later on Wednesday June 13 1990 7-year-old Sarah Baler was
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enjoying the pool at her family's apartment comp complex at Stono Village in Fort
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Wayne at around 3:30 p.m. after playing in the water with her step sister Sarah headed off alone to visit a friend who
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also lived in the complex when Sarah didn't return home for dinner that night her parents
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contacted the police it emerged that Sarah had never reached her friend's apartment having
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seemingly vanished somewhere along the short and simple Journey the the Bala family was certain
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Sarah had been forcibly taken as she had been afraid of strangers ever since the
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abduction and murder of April Tinsley 2 years earlier if a car ever drove slowly
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towards her Sarah would run to safety and say there's a kidnapper out there Sarah was only one year younger
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than April and bore a striking resemblance to her given the threat April's killer had scribbled on the barn
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3 weeks earlier police feared the worst multiple squads were called in to search for Sarah when they failed to
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find any sign of her a police dog was brought to the scene the dog picked up Sarah's Sant and
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followed it south of her apartment complex towards Coldwater Road leading police to a stuffed toy
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kitten the toy belonged to Sarah in a drainage ditch on the side of the road Searchers for found Sarah's
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body Sarah's clothing was in disarray and it was clear she had been sexually assaulted her cause of death was
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Suffocation as a result of having her face shoved down in the mud this appeared to have been done in
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an effort to keep her quiet it had taken 16 hours to find Sarah and in the hour before Discovery
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the area had been pelted with heavy rain if there had been any foreign hairs fibers or DNA on or around her body
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they'd washed away by now witness accounts weren't any more helpful there were reports of an elderly
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man near the pool where Sarah had been prior to her disappearance an elderly man was also
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seen emerging from the weeds near where her body was ultimately found neither of these men were
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identified and descriptions of them were too Limited zero win on anyone in particular Sarah B's murder bore obvious
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similarities to that of April Tinsley investigators fronting the Tinsley case took on the file
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considering the possibility that they were dealing with a Serial child killer one who took pleasure in taunting
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them just like in the Tinsley case appeals for information failed to generate any significant
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leads the baler and Tinsley cases languished together for 2 years until police received a much needed
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[Music] breakthrough to Sarah Bara Ron Hensley was Grandpa even though they weren't
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related Hensley was the grandfather of a close family friend and Sarah often encountered him at various events such
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as sleepovers dinners and on vacation Hensley was such a presence in Sarah's life that he brought her
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presence in the form of toys and clothes and encouraged her to quote just call me
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Grandpa Hensley had fought in World War II and his neck was badly injured when a
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shell landed in his Machine Gun Nest he suffered post-traumatic stress disorder as a result whenever he heard anything
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akin to gunfire explosive blasts or air raid sirens he would cry and Shake for a Time Hensley was hospitalized in a
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psychiatric unit for depression and Suicidal Thoughts outside of this trauma he maintained a charismatic and jovial
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facade but he was also known as someone who made women uncomfortable by being overly
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touchy he was asked to stop attending church because of the way he interacted with young
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girls in December 1992 Hensley left Fort Wayne after a woman accused him of molesting her
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daughter he relocated to South Carolina where he lived amongst friends and family until December 1994 when he died
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of lung problems at age 75 after Ron Hensley's death those who knew him began sorting out his
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Affairs his belongings were rifled through and a shoe box was discovered it was full of small notepads covered in
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Hensley's handwriting his expansive written works turned out to be detailed accounts of crimes he had
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committed against countless juveniles one tiny notebook had detailed the murder of Sarah
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Bala it featured details that only her killer could have known the notebooks were surrendered to
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police and given to the detectives overseeing the Bala case they compared Hensley's writings to
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the facts of the crime and had no doubt it was clear he had done it Ron Hensley was publicly named as
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Sarah bala's killer there would be no justice as he had died 14 months prior investigators nevertheless
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officially closed the bker case File however April Tinsley remained open while police weren't confirming any
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connections between the cases the public couldn't help but Wonder Ron Hensley had lived about 3
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miles from the Tinsley home at the time of April's murder according to Hensley's
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son and a woman who had lived with Hensley for several years he donated money to help fund both girls'
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funerals he also allegedly carried pictures of the two girls in a keychain and visited their graves
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often Janet Tinsley didn't believe Ron Hensley a stranger to her family was responsible for her daughter's
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murder detectives working the case shared her skepticism and kept looking into it but as time wore on without any
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further actions or words from April's killer speculation ran rough for those willing to believe in
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Ron Hensley's guilt it seemed awfully suspicious that April's communicative killer had fallen completely silent
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after Hensley died over a decade later in May 2004 7-year-old Emily higs found a plastic
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bag in the basket of her Pink Bicycle it contained a used condom and a letter claiming to be from April
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Tinsley's killer threatening that Emily would be his next victim the hig's family lived in Grull a
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small town 16 Mi north of Fort Wayne that they weren't around in 1988 when April was murdered but after learning of
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the case they contacted authorities the police were immediately struck by the similarities between the
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letter Emily received and the writing April's killer scribbled on the Schwarz Road Barn 14 years
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earlier Not only was the handwriting the same but they featured the same misspellings poor grammar and
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punctuation errors worse still Emily Higgs wasn't the only local girl who'd received a
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troubling letter that week two other girls aged 5 and nine found disturbing handwritten letters on
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lined yellow paper one was placed in a basket used as a flower pot the other had been taped to
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the girl's bicycle each began with the greeting hi honey and featured death threats in the
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same mistake riddled handwriting in one a ail's name was spelled a p r o i l and in another the
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first D in kidnapped was missing they all also contained the words haha the three girls were given what the
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author referred to in his letters as a present a used condom the biological material these
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contained was tested and was found to be a 100% match to the Sean sample collected from April Tinsley's underwear
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16 years earlier there was no doubt Ron Hensley could not have been responsible for
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April's murder the killer was still alive and had resurfaced again his DNA was run through State and
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National Police databases to no result just as investigators were examining the letters of fourth was sent
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it was found in a letter box outside the home of a young girl and was the most personal note of all it detailed the
00:32:07
horrible assault the author intended to commit against his victim this letter didn't include a
00:32:14
condom instead its present was a Polaroid photograph which depicted the naked lower torso of a white man as he
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lay on a bed masturbating a bed spread with a unique unque green Paisley type pattern was
00:32:30
visible in the image but little else investigators checked local hotels and lodgings but none had the betting
00:32:39
from the photo this led police to assume the picture was taken inside the man's own
00:32:47
home investigators were again at a Crossroads if they published the letters to request the Public's help then they'd
00:32:55
be giving the killer what he wanted more fear and notoriety as far as the police were
00:33:02
aware the killer had failed to act on his previous threat made on the barn in 1990 but that didn't necessarily mean he
00:33:11
was sitting idly by this time he could be ready to strike after all he had seemingly chosen
00:33:20
new victims by giving in and granting him infamy would they embolden him to act detectives sat on the letters for 2
00:33:32
years during that time the killer didn't appear to strike again in 2006 at yet another standstill
00:33:42
police released samples from the Killer's letters as well as cropped images of his bedspread hoping to
00:33:48
Kickstart a Manhunt these updates led to a wave of fear washing over Fort Wayne Not only was April 10th 's killer
00:33:58
still out there but he'd been actively stalking local girls honing in on his next
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victim when Gareth Evans not his real name saw the notes being circulated by the media he couldn't help but
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Wonder back in 1988 gareth's Father David also not his real name had driven a blue pickup truck and lived within
00:34:26
blocks of hogland Avenue curiously in the days after April's murder he had spray painted his
00:34:33
truck a different color since then he had become a registered sex offender for crimes
00:34:39
against children he often greeted women and girls by saying hi honey and was prone to saying
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haha he also took lewd photos of himself with a Polaroid camera Gareth contacted police to
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implicate his father David in the murder of April Tinsley during questioning David denied
00:35:01
knowing April personally but recalled that his daughter used to play with her although he admitted to having owned a
00:35:08
blue pickup truck David said he'd sold it to a neighbor shortly before April's murder and the neighbor was responsible
00:35:16
for painting it when asked to provide the neighbor's details David only gave a first name he
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said he didn't know the last David claimed that he'd been working on Friday April 1 1988 the day
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April was abducted his confident assertion immediately stood out to investigators how could David
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immediately remember what he was doing 16 years earlier on a specific day they spoke to his employer and
00:35:48
discovered David had not worked on April 1 he also wasn't working on Monday April
00:35:55
4 the day April's body was found investigators obtained a search warrant for David's home where they discovered a
00:36:03
notepad with lined yellow paper and a Polaroid camera investigators were certain they
00:36:10
had finally found their man all they needed was David's DNA to confirm it they collected a sample from David to
00:36:20
their shock it wasn't a match for April's killer with that they were back at square
00:36:29
one the publicity about the Killer's recent activities had failed to generate the leads investigators were hoping
00:36:36
for detectives who had been working the case for years were starting to suffer they struggled to sleep and
00:36:44
became obsessed by the desire for justice April's case was always at the Forefront of their
00:36:52
minds three kept a picture of the 8-year-old on them at all times while another had her photo on his desk at
00:37:00
home whenever they weren't working on regular duties they pulled out the Tinsley case File it was
00:37:08
maddening they felt they had what they needed to catch the guy he had even willingly provided them with significant
00:37:15
evidence they just couldn't link it to anyone many detectives ultimately left the unit or retired without
00:37:23
closure but the case was never given up on there always remained hope that a breakthrough would eventually
00:37:32
materialize even as the years started to once again we on without any further action from April Tinsley's
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Killer by 2009 believing the case was highly solvable the Federal Bureau of Investigation officially stepped in
00:37:52
their behavioral analysis unit created a comprehensive profile of the suspect whom they believed was now aged in his
00:37:59
40s or 50s they referred to him as a preferential child sex offender this meant he had a long-term
00:38:08
and persistent sexual desire for children specifically little girls and that interest would not go
00:38:15
away he could be married but the vast majority of preferential child sex offenders were not if he was married his
00:38:25
partner might be aware of his interesting girl but in denial about the extent of his
00:38:30
interest or his willingness to act on it although the killer was probably socially awkward he would Endeavor to
00:38:39
build relationships that gave him access to girls or he might seek out employment
00:38:44
or volunteer activities that provided proximity to them he was drawn to places where
00:38:50
children gathered such as playgrounds swimming pools and Parks quote wherever he goes if a little girl
00:38:59
is nearby his eyes will follow her the FBI profile warned this offender has demonstrated
00:39:10
that he has strong ties to Northeast Fort Wayne and to alen County this is where he likely lives
00:39:17
works and or shops you may be sitting beside him in the pew at church working beside him on
00:39:25
the production line or standing next to him in line at the grocery [Music] store that same year of 2009 a deck of
00:39:39
cards was distributed to prisons across the United States each card highlighted a cold case with April Tinsley appearing
00:39:47
on the seven of Hearts it was hoped that an inmate somewhere might hold key information
00:39:53
about the crime but no leads were generated meanwhile the case was covered on a segment of the weekly television program
00:40:02
America's Most Wanted while this exposure attracted more tips than any other story on the
00:40:08
show that night it didn't relaunch the investigation the show reexamined the case again 3 years later at which point
00:40:18
they revealed a piece of information that the police had kept secret from the public found a few feet from April 10 's
00:40:27
body was a bag from the Department Store Sears inside was an adult toy made of wood that worked manually via a hand
00:40:37
crank detectives withheld this discovery believing it to be incriminating information that would help them
00:40:43
identify April's killer but they were desperate and decided to publicize the Obscure object
00:40:50
now in the hopes someone might recognize it show host John Walsh held up a photo
00:40:57
of April and told viewers look at this picture just look at this girl now think about this
00:41:06
somebody kidnapped her raped her and murdered her there's no telling how many other children this killer may have
00:41:13
taken from this world this guy is a monster he's a coward he's out there more than likely he's in this area
00:41:23
somebody's got to have the courage to come forward and say I can't look at this face and not do the right thing by
00:41:30
leaving a tip but the Breakthrough detectives were desperate for didn't arrive in 2015 the Fort Wayne Community
00:41:43
rallied together to create a Memorial Park in April's honor called April's garden over the years that followed
00:41:51
events were periodically held at the park to revive awareness about the case a cr's mother Janet was often in
00:41:59
attendance haunted by the lack of answers during one event she told the crowd I never thought it would go this
00:42:09
long investigators revealed that at this stage they were still receiving roughly
00:42:14
5 to seven tips about the case each week but the leads gradually fizzled out with
00:42:20
one FBI agent remarking nothing's breaking there's nothing new the media routinely ran stories about
00:42:29
the crime making it the highest profile unsolved case in Indiana by the late 2010s more than 700
00:42:39
suspects had had their DNA tested this was a massive undertaking with police required to prove probable
00:42:46
cause for every individual who refused to provide a sample willingly hopes were often raised only
00:42:54
for a seemingly likely suspect to be ruled P out by DNA investigators couldn't help but
00:43:01
wonder if the killer had passed away and they were literally chasing a ghost when asked if they would ever know
00:43:09
for sure who killed April Tinsley a detective replied eventually I believe so we'll
00:43:16
get to the bottom of it by now the Killer's original DNA sample from the crime scene in 1988 had
00:43:29
been used up and the rest had degraded but because he had provided more samples in the used condoms he sent
00:43:36
in 2004 there was more than enough DNA in pristine condition for investigators to work with as forensic technology
00:43:46
evolved Fort Wayne detectives sent the samples from April Tinsley's killer to DNA technology company parabon nanolabs
00:43:54
who specialized in using genetic genealogy to to investigate cold cases through the use of DNA phenotyping
00:44:03
which predicts a person's appearance based on their DNA they were able to ascertain several of the Killer's
00:44:08
observable traits these included his eye hair and skin color and even how many freckles
00:44:15
he'd have on his face the results were not absolute but established the highest probability of
00:44:23
his specific characteristics it enabled the creation of two digital composite sketches that
00:44:29
were as accurate as possible one of what the suspect would have looked like in 1988 and the other aged to demonstrate
00:44:38
his current appearance both depicted a fair skinned man with brown hair and Hazel or green
00:44:45
colored eyes both matched the original 1988 sketch of the man driving the blue pickup truck that was seen approaching
00:44:54
April still he remained unrecognizable to the Tinsley and the greater Fort Wayne
00:45:02
Community it appeared investigators had reached yet another dead end then as covered in episode 53 of
00:45:10
case vile the trajectory of decades Long Cold cases drastically altered in 2018 when the Golden State killer was finally
00:45:19
apprehended after 44 years the Breakthrough came via a public Genealogy website called J
00:45:27
match Jed match customers voluntarily submitted saliva swabs in exchange for An ancestry report based on their
00:45:35
genetic profile they could then connect with family members and distant relatives via
00:45:41
online databases similarly investigators fronting the Golden State killer case uploaded his DNA to the same databases
00:45:51
with the intention of identifying him through his familiar lineage and it worked this new investigative tool was a
00:46:03
GameChanger for law enforcement it opened a new line of inquiry for many old cold cases including the unsolved
00:46:11
murder of April Tinley two weeks after the major breakthrough in the Golden State killer
00:46:17
case detectives had parabon nanolabs upload April's Killers DNA on the jet match.com the work was over seen by CC
00:46:28
Moore the head of parabon nanolabs genetic genealogy unit in her television series the
00:46:35
genetic detective CCE explained that at the start of an investigation she performed a personal assessment as to
00:46:42
how likely it was that genetic genealogy would lead to the suspect's identity she ranked the difficulty
00:46:49
between one being extremely promising and five being pretty much impossible for cc the Tinsley case
00:46:59
ranked 4 plus within 8 hours the website had found the man's relatives which were
00:47:07
mostly third cousins and Beyond CC determined two of the relatives were siblings and they formed
00:47:14
the starting point she scoured public records of obituaries marriage licenses and birth
00:47:21
announcements to fill in the blanks and facilitate a family tree the of the family tree was filled
00:47:28
in first which encompassed the subject's ancestors from the 1800s the tree expanded from there
00:47:36
moving forward in time and identifying each descendant along the way at one point CeCe reached a couple
00:47:44
that had had 11 children not only did she have to identify them but all of their
00:47:50
descendants to see if the suspect was among them it was a long and painstaking process but CCE was determined and
00:47:59
wasn't going to give up eventually she uncovered a couple who had three sons by 1961 at that point they moved from their
00:48:11
home in Florida to Fort Wayne Indiana by 2004 when April Tinsley's killer left the threatening letters one
00:48:21
of their sons had passed away CC Moore zeroed in on the two surviving Sons 59-year-old John Miller lived alone
00:48:34
at a trailer park in the small town of Kel 16 Mi Northeast of Fort Wayne Miller was a loner who lived in the same
00:48:43
trailer since he was 19 he kept to himself and never said hello to anyone he never had a
00:48:51
girlfriend and during his few fleeting encounters with neighbors his expression was and his comments were laced with
00:49:00
profanities at a fiberglass Factory where Miller had once worked he was known for his bad hygiene lack of
00:49:06
friendships and His short temper in fact he had been fired for punching and breaking the time
00:49:14
clock at home Miller's neighbor had seen him throw his lawn mower in a fit Miller's family believed his anger
00:49:23
stemmed from being bullied during his youth it impacted him so drastically that he ended up in a reform school his
00:49:31
family also suspected he was sexually abused after losing his Factory job Miller began working at a Walmart a
00:49:40
30-minute driveway in the city of Kendallville where he was rusted on the overnight shift stacking the electronics
00:49:48
department his colleagues who nicknamed him John John knew little about him he walked around the store hunched over see
00:49:56
brething with rage and hardly speaking once Miller was overheard beating on equipment because it wasn't
00:50:03
working right whenever other staff or customers asked him for help he'd complain about
00:50:11
it the only time people saw Miller Outdoors was at a softball field down the street where he would watch children
00:50:19
play he was relatively unknown to police except for two separate incidents in 2002 and 2003 three when he was reported
00:50:28
for exhibiting lwd Behavior towards women and [Music] girls on Sunday July 15 2018 two
00:50:40
detectives overseeing the April Tinsley homicide investigation stood outside a faded yellow trailer at Lot Number Four
00:50:48
at the greyall mobile home park it was a short distance from where April Tinsley's body was discovered and
00:50:55
the barn where an ominous message from her killer was found it was also the home of John
00:51:04
Miller the genetic genealogists had traced Miller through his lineage and concluded that either he or his brother
00:51:11
was April's killer for the past 2 weeks police had covertly observed the Miller Brothers at
00:51:19
their respective homes they rarely saw John Miller when he was home except for when he dragged
00:51:25
his rubbish bin out to the curb Indiana Law allowed police to legally take that rubbish for evidence
00:51:33
as long as they had the probable cause to do so which they did officers approached the bin on foot
00:51:42
being as quiet as they could so Miller wouldn't be alerted to their presence they dug through his rubbish and found a
00:51:49
used condom in the search for DNA evidence this was considered a jackpot the condoms contents were compared to
00:51:59
the samples from April Tinsley's killer after 30 years they finally found a match this resulted in a jubilant
00:52:10
celebration not only for detectives but all the analysts and experts who had assisted in the
00:52:17
case Miller returned home after a brief outing to a grocery store to discover two detectives waiting for
00:52:24
him upon seeing him him up close the detectives fully appreciated the accuracy of the composite sketch by
00:52:31
parabon nanolabs they introduced themselves and suggested Miller take his groceries
00:52:38
inside but he said no the detectives then requested Miller's assistance with something they
00:52:45
were working on and asked him to accompany them to Fort Wayne for questioning he
00:52:52
agreed in the 20-minute car ride Miller seemed to enjoy chatting about his interest in crossword puzzles and spoke
00:52:59
of how much he liked to live PD a television show where analysts examined the workings of us
00:53:06
police Miller said he never missed an episode once they reached the station Miller was ushered into an interview
00:53:15
room and read his rights he was then told we want to talk to you a little bit about a case that we've been working on
00:53:24
for a while somebody brought your name up into this and we wanted to see what you had to say about that do you have
00:53:32
any idea what we need to talk to you about after a moment of silence Miller responded I think probably the Tinsley
00:53:46
case the detectives were stuned but maintained a calm and collected front they hadn't once mentioned or
00:53:54
alluded to April tins while Miller was in their company him volunteering her name of his
00:54:01
own valtion was massive one of the detectives asked what made you say the Tinsley
00:54:10
case Miller thought for a moment before replying DNA the detectives asked him to take
00:54:19
them back to 1988 Miller drank some water before saying I can't sensing he wanted to speak further
00:54:31
the detectives encouraged him John it's time to get this out you've had to have known that this day
00:54:39
was coming with that Miller started talking and the floodgates opened on the afternoon of Friday April
00:54:50
1 1988 Miller was in Fort Wayne looking for a child to abduct it was a desire he'd felt for a while he
00:55:00
was trolling the streets in his car when he saw April Tinsley walking alone down
00:55:04
hogland Avenue Miller had never met or seen April prior to this encounter there was no one else around
00:55:13
so he drove a little further down the road and waited outside his vehicle as she
00:55:19
approached wielding a sharp letter opener he then confronted April who said don't hurt me I'll do whatever you
00:55:29
say he ordered her to get in his car unfortunately the witness who happened upon the abduction as it was
00:55:38
unfolding had made a mistake they thought Miller had been in a blue pickup truck when in fact he
00:55:45
drove a blue Mercury Lynx which was a sedan Miller drove April straight to his trailer in grael where he sexually
00:55:55
assaulted her during his police interview Miller was asked why he couldn't have just released
00:56:01
April somewhere after the attack Miller casually replied I thought about it I was afraid
00:56:09
she'd tell the detective pressed on saying but April didn't even know you Miller didn't reply and just
00:56:21
silently stared blankly ahead his mouth a gape Miller had choked April to death to
00:56:30
prevent her from speaking out about the assault the process took 10 minutes he molested her once more then drove to
00:56:39
County Road 68 in the early hours of the morning and left April's body in the ditch the next day Sunday he realized
00:56:48
that one of April's shoes was in his car he drove past where he'd left her body and tossed the shoe out the window
00:56:56
as he sped away April wouldn't be discovered until the Monday 3 days after she was
00:57:05
taken from then on Miller kept a low profile he remained living in the same trailer park but stayed a very private
00:57:15
person he did the same thing day in day out went to work during the quiet midnight shift and returned straight
00:57:24
home occasionally he go out for breakfast at the local Inn where he was in the presence of many people including
00:57:31
gel's Town Council president yet he offered a little else to others aside from a grunt when they
00:57:38
said hello no one in the community came close to knowing or suspecting him at all in the years after killing April
00:57:50
Miller thought about abducting another child he scrolled the confession on the bun in 1990 and deposited threatening
00:57:58
letters in his local area during 2004 he loed in neighborhoods and parking lots waiting to cross paths with
00:58:07
another lone girl but the opportunity never arose Miller was questioned in relation
00:58:15
to other unsolved missing or murdered children cases he maintained he had no involvement in any and his DNA didn't
00:58:23
match evidence obtained from other crime scenes after Miller's confession to the murder
00:58:30
of April Tinsley he was immediately taken into custody and work began in preparation for his
00:58:37
trial it was a laborious process over the years the many investigators who worked on the case had
00:58:45
produced boxes and boxes of information the first month alone was spent scanning old VHS and cassette
00:58:53
tapes to update them for digital storage speaking of the chance encounter April had with her killer a case detective
00:59:03
remarked it's scary to think there are people in our society capable of doing this had she been 5 minutes earlier or 5
00:59:11
minutes later we probably wouldn't be here today it could have been anybody any little kid in that area that day and
00:59:21
that was probably not the first time Miller had gone looking [Music] his arrest was a huge relief to the
00:59:29
residents of Fort Wayne who had felt haunted by April Tinsley's killer for decades one FBI agent praised the
00:59:38
dedication of the case detectives stating this investigation illustrates the dogger determination of the
00:59:45
investigators who never wavered never gave up and kept moving forward for the last 30
00:59:54
years in the late late up to his trial John Miller began walking unsteadily and started using a
01:00:01
wheelchair he appeared too feeble to handle Court proceedings detectives were dubious
01:00:08
however pointing out that no matter how frail his physical condition Miller was mentally
01:00:15
sound he knew right from wrong and was fully aware of what he'd done in the end Miller opted to forego a
01:00:23
trial and accepted a play deal in dead detectives believed he'd realized the strength of the DNA evidence was
01:00:31
impossible to argue against during Miller's sentencing Janet Tinsley purposefully sat at the front of
01:00:40
the public Gallery so her daughter's killer could see her she wanted him to see what he had
01:00:47
destroyed when Janet spoke she described the tremendous impact that April's abduction and murder and the ensuing
01:00:55
Decades of UN certainty had made on her family she spoke of the health problems they all faced due to stress and turmoil
01:01:04
and how April's brother and cousins grew up sheltered and overprotected they all developed trust
01:01:11
issues especially towards men whenever Janet went out she found herself wondering every time she passed
01:01:20
a man are you him looking directly at Miller she said said I'll never forgive and never forget
01:01:30
what you took from us for pleading guilty to criminal confinement child molestation and felony
01:01:39
murder John Miller was sentenced to 80 years in prison with no chance for appeal the deal enabled him to avoid the
01:01:48
death penalty Miller is due for release in July 2058 6 days after his 9th birthday for Emily higs one of the
01:02:02
children who received a threatening letter from Miller in 2004 the terror never abated Miller lived close to her the
01:02:10
entire time Emily had slided down a hill and played in a park near his home she visited the softball fields he
01:02:20
was known to loiter at her mother Crystal was grateful the torment was over it was like this is over with this is
01:02:31
over with she said finally the detectives who solved the Tinsley case received an award from the
01:02:40
National Association of police organizations which paid tribute to law enforcement officers who went above and
01:02:47
beyond the call of duty while investigators were glad the case was finally closed they were
01:02:54
puzzled by the fact that no one had ever named John Miller as a suspect he fit the description of
01:03:01
April's killer in every way possible his appearance age location history behavior
01:03:07
and personality detectives were stunned that no one recognized his highly unusual
01:03:14
handwriting or the unique bedspread he'd taken lwd Polaroids against in 2004 it was ultimately settled on that
01:03:23
this must have been due to his extremely inclusive lifestyle April Tinsley's murder was the
01:03:31
fifth case solved using genetic geneology but certainly not the last in the words of one County
01:03:39
prosecutor today we're at a point where if you're a criminal and you've left your DNA at the scene you may as well
01:03:46
turn yourself in now the previous decades had been torture for the Tinsley family
01:03:55
whenever they believed an end was in sight their hopes were dashed and they were left with the agonizing realization
01:04:02
that the case might never be solved after 30 years they finally had the answers they needed though for Janet
01:04:11
Tinsley true resolution would only arrive after John Miller's death now she finds Peace by spending
01:04:19
hours in the public garden planted on behalf of her [Music] daughter on Sunday July 15 2018 the
01:04:28
television series on the case with Paul Azan aired an episode on April Tinsley's
01:04:34
then unsolved murder Janet Tinsley featured in the program unaware that the case was about
01:04:42
to be solved that same day John Miller was confronted outside his home by detectives who' concretely linked him to
01:04:51
April's murder when journalist Paul aan asked Janet what she missed most about April
01:04:59
Janet answered I miss her growing up what would she look like act like would she
01:05:06
be married it would have been nice to see that but my memory of her is when she was just a little
01:05:15
girl that's when it ends [Music] [Music] [Music] for