Lisa Handlon Kopanakis

On August 21, 1988, Lisa Handlon was a beautiful blushing bride. Young, funny, and full of life, Lisa was considered intelligent. In the same year, she was the runner up for the Indiana Most Beautiful Eyes Contest. On this day she married George Kopanakis. She wanted to have children and a perfect marriage like so many other woman her age.

Lisa had so much potential. She had one semester left at Indiana University Northwest before her degree would have been complete. She lived in an apartment in Portage, Indiana. Portage is approximately twelve miles from Gary, Indiana where the university is located. According to Google maps, the drive is about 15 minutes thanks to the highways system.

The population of Portage was somewhere between 19,000 and 27,450 in 1989, an exact count is unavailable. Like Gary, Portage was and still is a heavy industrialized area. Farms were becoming rare and were running on smaller basis. Many people relocated from Gary to Portage for a slightly more suburban life than what was available in the city.

Life in Portage sounds quiet, doesn't it? It really seems to have been good to Lisa that is until Easter of 1989. Lisa and her husband came home and found that their two adored dogs had been brutalized. Her dogs had been killed while she was out of the apartment. The dog's attacker covered the animals with a rug before leaving the scene. It is unclear whether or not the incident was reported to police. This incident took place at their apartment at 5180 Plaza Ave. in Portage.

 

(The map above shows the locations of victim's apartments. Apartment one is where the dogs were found slain on Easter. The second apartment is where Lisa was slain.)

Two months later, Lisa and her husband had moved to different apartment after the incident with their beloved dogs. The address was 5237 Rachel Street in the Cherrywood Trace Apartments. Lisa was found in the same manner as her beloved dogs. She was believed to have been stabbed to death. One source claims that not only was she stabbed, but that her throat had also been slit and that she had also been beaten with a blunt object. Her husband was out of town at the time of the murder and had a solid alibi.

The last interviews conducted by newspapers were done in 2009 with the victim's mother. Linda told the heartbreaking story of losing a child, a horror that as a parent I could never imagine. The interviews were conducted twenty years after the loss of her daughter. In two years, it will be thirty years since the beautiful 23 year old was slain. Her family has given up hope for justice.

According to two articles published in 2009, the case was reviewed a few years prior. It was stated then that the victim's mother and the police had a suspected someone, we don't know who that individual is. The suspected person was someone that the victim knew, which is unsurprising due to the nature of the crime and the dogs' death prior to Lisa's own murder.

In September of 1989, lawmakers approved offering a reward for information leading to the arrest of an individual in connection to the case. After a year without any progress or tips, the reward was withdrawn. Linda lost hope.

Portage police continue to hold that the case was thoroughly investigated in 1989. The documents on this case are not available for release through the departments request form because the case is still open and considered active. Indiana State Police handled the review in the years prior to 2009, it was stated that "they went over all evidence and (made) no determination."

Linda, Lisa's mother, has come to believe that case will never be solved. Almost ten years after her 2009 interview, it appears as though she might be correct. Sadly, this mother only gets occasional glimmers of hope that something might solve her daughter's case. Instead of buying her daughter a Christmas present each year, she has to buy a grave blanket. It is the only gift that Lisa can use.

If anyone has any information regarding Lisa Handlon Kopanakis's murder, that individual is still eligible for up to a $1,000 reward, he or she has to call the WeTip Crime Hotline at (800)78-CRIME. 

The Portage Police will also take tips at (219) 762-3122. The Portage Police are also available for contact via email. If any new information comes up in this case, this chapter will be updated.

--Sources--

Census Data of Cities in Indiana. Portage City. http://www.stats.indiana.edu/population/PopTotals/historic_counts_cities.asp .

"Lisa Kopanakis: Hope fades in slaying of IUN student." The Times Northwestern Indiana. Ken Kosky. November 23, 2009. http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/porter/lisa-kopanakis-hopes-fades-in-slaying-of-iun-student/article_c6aead91-ce11-5d4e-9e45-c7365642b5ce.html .

Marriage Record of Lisa and George Kopanakis. http://marriage-divorce-records.mooseroots.com/l/77418231/George-M-Kopanakis .

"Portage: A long history for one of the Region's newer cities." The times Northwestern Indiana. Joyce Russell. March 6, 2016. http://www.nwitimes.com/news/history/then-and-now/portage-a-long-history-for-one-of-the-region-s/article_0bfe436f-1807-55db-bf27-2371f794895b.html .

The official website of the Portage, Indiana Police Department. http://www.ci.portage.in.us/department/index.php?structureid=8

"Reward Offered in Slaying." Post Tribune (In). September 15, 1989. https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1N1-108533B1A38D63E9.html

"Woman Fears Daughters '89 Slaying May go Unsolved." WTHR 13. Sarah Galer. November 26, 2009. http://www.wthr.com/article/woman-fears-daughters-89-slaying-may-go-unsolved .

Maps from Google Maps.