On May 22, 2011 family members discovered the body of 53-year-old Domingo Flores Jr. inside his residence at 901 E. Dayton St., South Bend, IN.
An autopsy determined he had been shot to death. Police believe the suspect(s) took Flores’ blue Dodge Ram truck with an extended cab, Indiana license plate TK1855.
Family members told police they had lost contact with Flores a couple of weeks prior to discovering his body. Read the rest of this entry »

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. –

The parents of missing Indiana University student Lauren Spierer are now offering a $250,000 reward for information leading to the return of their daughter.

Robert and Charlene Spierer issued a statement through the News on Lauren S blog Friday afternoon confirming the reward for finding Lauren has increased to $250,000, thanks to a donation.

“Anyone with information, that leads us to our daughter, will be eligible to receive the reward,” the Spierers stated. “All information submitted that has a direct impact relative to finding Lauren will be evaluated. Information that is deemed credible and helps result in the resolution of this case will be awarded to the appropriate individuals from the total reward amount of $250,000.00.

We remain dedicated to finding our daughter.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Family members and friends of Stuart Statler struggle to move on eight years after his unsolved slaying.
Statler,70, was murdered in Elkhart, Indiana on Friday, June 13, 2003. He owned over 100 rental properties and was thought to be showing an apartment at 916 Madison Avenue to potential renters. A tennant of the building found him in the vacant apartment around 8:15 p.m. He had a gunshot wound to the head.
“Passing the holidays is tough,” said Sheri Cochran, Statler’s daughter. “It’s hard, knowing people who killed my father are still out there.” Read the rest of this entry »

A local family hopes a $10,000 reward turns up the heat on a cold murder case. Her relatives and investigators believe witnesses now have thousands of reasons to start talking.
The brother, mother and sister of Tracy Sissom are looking for justice and the person who killed her. Holding Tracy’s picture, sister Shelly Sullivan said, “We’re pleading. It’s been a long time.”
The 33-year-old Indianapolis woman, a mother of three children, the youngest a toddler, was murdered over six years ago. Read the rest of this entry »

Terry and Darleen Anderson, where murdered in their home in Mongo Indiana in LaGrange County IN on Oct 21, 2005. They both lived in the small farm town of Mongo for well over 30yrs.
Thursday, October 20, 2005 was a typical night for Terry and Darleen. After they returned from their jobs, Darleen puttered around the house while Terry retired to his pole barn to work on his tractor. Darleen paid a quick visit to her mother, who lived in a trailer on the property. By 8 p.m. Darleen was hunkered down in the living room for the night. Around this time Darleen’s mother glimpsed a pair of headlights pulling into the driveway. Read the rest of this entry »

It was July 24th, 2006, in the middle of the day, when someone killed Blake and Chynna in the Franklin, IN home Chynna shared with Sean, Blake’s father.
Sean Dickus arrived at his Franklin home from work to find his wife and son brutally murdered. The couple had just returned from a mission trip to El Salvador a month ago, just closed on a new home and were still settling in when Chynna Dickus, 26, and Blake Dickus, 10, were found stabbed to death on a Monday night. Read the rest of this entry »

Omar Mora is the main suspect in the shooting deaths of his wife, Lisa Heather Mora and gas station manager Harpel Singh on May 23, 2007.
Harpel, 38 and Lisa, 32 were both shot in Warsaw, Ind. within minutes of each other. Harpel was shot while he was at work at the Phillips 66 Service Station. Read the rest of this entry »

To neighbors in Gary, Ind., Randy Mark Yager was a nice guy, always eager to lend a helping hand.
But to the Outlaw Motorcycle Club, “Mad” was a vicious leader who was feared by his enemies and allies alike.
And to the U.S. Marshalls office, he is one of America’s 15 most wanted fugitives. Read the rest of this entry »

A Kokomo, IN family hopes a $25,000 reward will help lead to new information in the disappearance of a woman missing since last November.
Esther Westenbarger, 51, went missing on November 12, 2009, and now all her family is looking and hoping for is closure.
“I feel in my heart that something bad happened to her,” said Esther’s brother Bill Pelfree
Esther Westenbarger’s family has shared that same heartache ever since the week she disappeared nine months ago. Esther was planning to surprise her mother Ruby Pelfree for her birthday, but Esther was last seen just days before that party.
“She kissed me on the cheek and said, ‘Mom, don’t worry about me. I’m old enough to take care of myself.’” Ruby said. “That’s the last time I heard from her.”
After drinking at Miller’s bar in Kokomo into the early morning hours of November 12th 2009, Esther walked several blocks back to her car parked outside the Hoosier Bar. Her brother says the bar’s security camera caught her getting into her car just after 1:30 a.m., but neither her, nor her Gold 2005 Cadillac with personalized Ohio plates that say “Ms. Esther” have been seen since.
“I Believe the last time her phone was used was 1:38 in the morning,” Bill said.
Though the investigation remains open, the family hasn’t heard about any leads in the months since and Bill and his mother have lost hope that she’s alive.
“I know that she’s not (alive),” Ruby said. “Because she wouldn’t have been gone nine months without notifying someone.”
“With her being intoxicated the way she supposedly was, I just believe she got herself in a bad situation and somebody took advantage of that,” Bill said. “That’s what I think. I think something bad happened to her.”
Now, all this family hopes for is closure and a stop to the heartache.
“Somebody knows what happened on that morning that probably could come forward,” Bill said. “Either they’re afraid to tell or they just don’t want to get themselves in trouble, and we’re hoping that $25,000 reward will cause someone to talk. That’s really the only hope we have”.
Westenbarger is described as being five foot seven inches tall, weighing 135 pounds, with red shoulder length hair and brown eyes. She has a tattoo of a 1st Cavlary insignia on her upper left arm, and a tattoo of a parachute with wings on her left ankle.
She was last seen wearing creme colored three-quarter length V-neck shirt, blue jeans, flip-flops, and a dark colored jacket.
Also missing is Westenbarger’s good 2005 Cadillac CTS, bearing Ohio personalized registration plate MSESTER.

Westenbarger may have been walking from Miller’s to the Hoosier Bar, where her car was last seen. The Kokomo Police Department is also assisting with the investigation. Anyone with information is asked to contact Lt. Greg Hargrove at the Howard County Sheriff Department’s Criminal Investigation Division, telephone (765) 456-2031.