Vickie Lynn Harrell

Vickie Lynn Harrell was from Linton, Indiana. She was 25 years old and lived in Bloomington. Working as a clerk at k-mart in 1972, she was recently divorced. Some reports mentioned that she was a mother, while others leave no mention of her personal life.

Vickie Lynn Harrell was reported missing after not returning home on August 12, 1972. Her roommate reported her missing. It seems as though, in typical seventies fashion, the police immediately wrote the woman off as a run away or that she left on her own accord. From newspaper articles at the time, or really the lack thereof, there was no search for the missing woman. The only one searching was her poor roommate.

The day before what would have been her 26th birthday, Vickie was found by a member of the Owen County Highway Department. Her naked body was discovered at 1:30 on August 14, 1972. Her clothing or any of her belongings were not found with the body. Her car was found at a shopping center.

The body was three miles from Spencer. It was apparent from the area that the body had been dumped in the water filled ditch and that the murder had not been committed in this area. Upon examination of the body, it was determined that she had been raped and strangled. Initials had also been carved into Vickie's torso.

As quickly as Vickie's story became news, it quickly faded from the papers. Owen County had a lot happen that year. The investigation was put on the back burner because the jail caught fire, there was a jail break, and a suicide occurred at the jail. According to the "lead investigator" the Sheriff's department was under staffed.

Yet, three other agencies were also investigating the case and made no progress. Part of this is because Vickie was painted to be an unwed mother who was a known drinker and the public had no sympathy. Out of the four agencies, the Owen County Sheriff's Department, Bloomington Police, Monroe County Sheriff's Office, and the State Police, one of them believed that Vickie's killer was already confined to a mental facility and was untouchable as of 1974.

When Lt. Ralph Shumaker, of the Indiana State Police, took over the case he was working on a theory. The transient theory was a favorite. It was believed that Vickie might have fallen victim to a serial killer. Similar murders allegedly occurred in Pennsylvania and Maryland between 1969-1971, I was unable to find these when going through newspaper archives. The murders had the same method of killing and the victims were all taken from college towns. The bodies all had initials carved into them, but they were different letters.

With so much time gone, it is hard to believe and maintain hope that Vickie's case will ever be solved. In hopes that someone knows somethings and is ready to talk, I ask that anyone with information on Vickie's case to call the Indiana State Police.

_____________Sources_________________
"Columnist Calls for Jury Probe." The Terre Haute Tribune. January 1974.

"Initials Carved in Woman's Body." Journal and Courier. Lafayette, Indiana. August 1972.

"ISP Detective Asks Public to Help Solve Case." Stevens, Howard. The Terre Haute Tribune. October 1972.

"Murder Victim Also Raped." Anderson Herald. Anderson, Indiana. August 1972.

"Nude, Mutilated Body of Missing Woman is Found." The Indianapolis Star. August 1972.

"Slain Woman Formerly Lived Here." Linton Daily Citizen. Linton, Indiana. August 1972.

"Young Clerk's Death Still Haunts Lawmen." The Indianapolis News. September 1973

Daniel Reaves, 4 a.m. Hike

On May 3, 2008, Daniel and his girlfriend Sara were having a quiet night in. After seven years together, they were enjoying a date night watching a movie at Sara's house in Madison, Indiana. Sara dosed off at approximately midnight (May 4).

Daniel had been wearing either a light blue or white t-shirt, long tan shorts, and brown suede tennis shoes. He might have been wearing a black, leather-like jacket.

Sara awoke around 4 am on May 4. She had received a text from Daniel saying that he loved her.
Within five minutes of receiving his text, she tried to call him back, but he did not answer. This was the last contact anyone had with Daniel.

A week later, Daniel's 1999 Gold Chrysler Sebring Convertible was found on Green Hill Drive. Greenhill Drive is located near Clifty Falls State Park. The park is a great place for hiking and many students from the local college hike the area during the early fall and spring months.

Daniel was raised in the area and was believed to know the area well. So he was known to have hiked the area in the past. Why would Daniel go hiking at 4 in the morning? It would have been about 42 degrees at this time in the morning and hiking in shorts would be uncomfortable.

The car was not locked when the car was found. Daniel's wallet, credit cards and Identification were found in the vehicle. Meanwhile, his keys and cellphone were not found in the vehicle. Daniel's parents said that it was out of character for Daniel to leave his car unlocked. Daniel would even lock his car even if it was parked in the driveway of their home.

The car was gone through by Indiana State Police crime scene investigators, but no evidence was found in the car that could lead to figuring out what happened to Daniel Reaves.

A search of Clifty Falls State Park was conducted on May 10 of 2008. The park is filled with caves, railroad tunnels, and waterfalls that make the area treacherous. The park covers approximately two square miles.

Authorities found nothing in the park that was tied to Daniel Reaves. They believe that someone knows what happened to Daniel Reaves. Anyone with information is asked to contact one of the following:

Jefferson County Sheriff's Department

812-265-2648

Indiana State Police

812-689-5000

__________________Sources___________________________

"Daniel Reaves: No Clues in Disappearance." Courier Staff Reporter. May 3, 2012. Madison Courier. https://madisoncourier.com/Content/News/News/Article/Daniel-Reaves-No-clues-into-disappearance/178/961/69420

"Daniel Reaves." Indiana State Police. http://www.in.gov/isp/2882.htm

Daniel Reaves. The Charley Project. http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/r/reaves_daniel.html

"Family Still Hopeful 4 Years After Disappearance." RTV6 The Indy Channel. April 30, 2012. http://www.theindychannel.com/news/family-still-hopeful-4-years-after-disappearance

"S. Indiana Man Missing for Nearly 3 Weeks." Radio. WDRB. http://www.wdrb.com/story/8362484/s-indiana-man-missing-for-nearly-3-weeks?clienttype=printable

Weather. https://www.usclimatedata.com/climate/madison/indiana/united-states/usin0386/2008/5

Melinda Creech

People don't just disappear. They cannot vanish into thin air. How can no one know when someone was last seen? Most missing person cases have at least a solid last sighting, but not this case. In fact, nothing about this case is solid.

The case of Melinda Creech is that of a 13 year old girl being rebellious. She was trying to grow up too fast. On a September night in 1979, Melinda Creech and male teenager were arrested for trying to steal a motorcycle from a local dealership in Anderson, Indiana.

The boy was taken to an all male facility in Fort Wayne, Indiana; meanwhile, Melinda was taken to a facility in Anderson. Melinda was taken to the Blake house, which was a branch of the Bronnenberg House.

The Bronnenberg house was the last orphanage in Madison County. The Bronnenberg home was in operation until the 1980's. It was located on Mounds Road just East of Anderson. The building was torn down and a new facility built. The new facility still stands and I pass it every day on my morning commute.

It turns out, at the time of Melinda Creech was taken to the Blake house, my aunt worked at the Bronnenberg. She was able to confirm that the girls home was indeed located on the campus on Mounds Road in Anderson, Indiana.

The Blake house was an all girls juvenile facility. There are conflicts between sources. Some sources say the arrest and booking was on September 4, while others claim that it was the 5.

An old police report stated that when police returned to Blake House to talk to Melinda Creech about the attempted burglary, they were unable to locate her. So at some point in the two month window of dropping her off at the Blake House and returning to question her, Melinda had vanished.

No records are avaliable from the juvenile home or the Bronnenberg Home after 1959. These records have not been released because it is believed that the records being provided would violate the privacy of individuals named in the documents.

Shirley Creech told her other children that Melinda had run away from the Blake House in September of 1979. Later in the 1990's, Shirley would tell her family that a badly decomposed body found on the East Coast was that of Melinda. Melinda's brothers and sister were leery to believe their mother. No service was ever held for the girl.

Shirley, who suffered from Dementia, passed away in 2003. As her remaining children cleaned out their mother's home. They made a horrifying discovery.

In a box, letters were found. Three letters from 1990 were found. These letters were correspondence from a New Jersey Police Department. The letters informed Shirley that Melinda's dental records did not match those of the badly decomposed body that had been found.

Why would a mother lie to her children about their sister being found dead? Was she trying to end their hurting for their sister? Or was her motivation something more sinister? It would later come out that Shirley had been abusive to all of her children. This would bring back questions about what really happened to Melinda.

Along with the letters about the remains not belonging to Melinda, there were letters regarding Melinda's arrest and soon-to-happen court dates. Letters were found that advised Melinda's mother to get an attorney on her daughter's behalf and that she, Shirley, would be responsible for the cost. Another letter stated that Melinda's court date would be on of the following days in April of 1980: the 2nd, 8th, or 9th.

The court would not have issued a letter about an upcoming court date if they were aware the child had runaway or was missing from their custody without good cause. So did Melinda really disappear from government custody or did something else happen?

Darryl Creech, Melinda's older brother, began searching again for his sister when he found the letters in his mother's home in 2003. He began posting online asking for information. Soon after, he was put in touch with the Doe Network.

Working with the network, he looked through thousands of composite photographs and sculptures, never finding a match for his sister. Her dental records were given to the network and no matches were made. When this was done, a member of the network encouraged the family approach Madison County Police about "re-opening" the case.

A missing persons report was never filed on Melinda. Police had to start from scratch in 2004. With no solid facts, they had very little to go on. The police took the dental records and entered them into their databases. They also took DNA from the family members in hope of finding a match, sadly to no avail.

So, what do police have to go on? They know that two months after police dropped Melinda off at the Blake House she was no longer there. They don't know if Shirley signed over her parental rights so that she would not have to deal with a delinquent daughter or a debt to the state. They know that the boy she was arrested with never saw her again.

Melinda's remaining family has relocated to Oklahoma and no longer comments on the case.

Anyone with information regarding this case is asked to contact the Madison County Police Department at (765)646-4017 or (765) 646-4014.

(Photo on the left is an actual photo of Melinda. The photo on the right is an age progression.)

_____________________Sources________________________________________

"Anderson Missing-Teen Case Reopened After New Discovery-Mother lied about Finding Girl's Body." The Associated Press. The Journal Gazette. September 6, 2004. http://www.doenetwork.org/media/news172.html

"Indiana Missing: Girl Disappeared From Anderson Juvenile Detention Center." Kristine Guerra. January 7, 2014. https://www.indystar.com/story/news/crime/2014/01/07/indiana-missing-girl-disappeared-from-anderson-juvenile-detention-center/4357865/

Interview: November 6, 2017. Former Bronnenberg Employee.

Melinda's Candle. March 2007. Darryl Creech. http://www.oocities.org/mindyscandle/

"Melinda Creech." Whereaboutsstillunknown. https://whereaboutsstillunknown.wordpress.com/2013/03/11/melinda-creech/

Melinda Creech. National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. http://api.missingkids.org/poster/NCMC/1036765/1

Melinda Karen Creech. The Charley Project. http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/c/creech_melinda.html

The Bronnenberg Children's Home. Digital Archive of the Anderson Public Library. https://digital.library.in.gov/Record/ISL_p1819coll7-178

A Sickening Suspect

A girl, 18, made some mistakes. She got wrapped up in the wrong crowd. Court documents in a former boyfriend's case implicated her in a robbery. Later, she was charged and convicted in a case related to car theft.

In order to turn her life around, she would have to make some big changes. Amanda Vanscyoc was this girl. She signed up to be a narcotics informant for the police. She got a job at Schnuck's, according to her stepfather. Her mother said that she was really trying.

On November 9, 2001, Amanda's mother, Linda Warner, said that she was leaving for work and decided to make sure that Amanda was up and moving. That day Amanda was expected to appear for her second interview at the local Walmart. This is the last time that Amanda was seen alive. 

A few hours after Linda had left for work, she decided to call home to make sure that Amanda had left for her interview. There was no answer, so she assumed her daughter had made the interview. This unanswered phone call raises some questions, which I will address later.

That evening, Amanda never came home. Linda Warner confessed her fears to her husband, John Warner, who was Amanda's stepfather. They decided to not report her disappearance to police because her not returning home would be a violation of her probation.

On November 13, 2001, earlier in the day police were called to an area located near the Ohio River. The area was known for drug activity. The officers that arrived completed their activities in the area and nothing looked suspicious. The location in question is located somewhere in the highlighted area. 

Later that same day, police receive a phone call of a body found by deer hunters in the same area. Officers returned to the location and the body of a Caucasian female was found covered with a rug. The body was confirmed to be that of Amanda Lee Vanscyoc. She was nude. Her clothing and her purse would later be found at home, where she lived with her mother and stepfather. The area in which her body was found would later be called "the rat's nest" due to Amanda's status as an informant.

Investigation revealed at the body had been moved to the location where it had been found and that she had been dead for at least three days before she was found.

Upon examination, investigators found DNA on her remains. The DNA was semen, which would later be confirmed to be that of John Warner, Amanda's stepfather. In order for the DNA to be found in the way that it had been meant that it had come into contact with Amanda's body shortly before her death and had not been wiped off.

Amanda's stepfather initially denied having any knowledge of how the DNA ended up on Amanda's remains. His wife, Amanda's own mother, continued to stand by him. Later, he admitted to having a sexual relationship with the stepdaughter.

When asked about it, Linda Warner said "I have no question that that is a possibility, but why does that make him a killer?" This is odd to me considering that both of Amanda's parents claim that they were told by police that the stepfather failed a polygraph that was taken in regards to Amanda's murder. Linda Warner's support of her husband under such circumstances seems questionable to me.

Brad Vanscyoc, Amanda's father, believes that the stepfather was guilty of the murder. He and Linda Warner fight like cats and dogs about the murder of their daughter and death threats have been made multiple times during these arguments.

While investigating, police quickly began to look at the stepfather as a suspect. H e would later die in a car accident, but the mother would take his side over and over again. On the day of the murder, he allegedly had been home all day with no witnesses. If he had been home, why hadn't he answered the phone when Linda Warner had called after being at work for a few hours?

Investigators don't believe that Amanda's status as an informant had anything to do with her death for two reasons. Firstly, she openly told people she was an informant and as a result nobody would talk to her. Secondly, Amanda never gave the police any information. She really didn't have any information that anyone else didn't already have.

In 2002, Warrick County Sheriff Bruce Hargrave requested the federal satellite footage of the region from November 9, 2001. He was hoping that the imagery would be able to see whether or not the suspect's vehicle had left his home on the day in question. The home in question is approximately 75 miles from a military base, so it is more likely that something might have been caught. A satellite expert said that it was far fetched. Hargrave said that he didn't believe he would actually get the images that he requested, but he didn't want to leave any possibility unchecked.

No new information has been made available in this case. Anyone with any information that can account for the days between Amanda's remains being found and her disappearance, is asked to use the following information to contact police.

Indiana State Police
District Investigative Commander
19411 Highway 41 North
Evansville, IN 47725
1-812-867-2079 or 1-800-852-3970

________________________Source_______________________

"Murdered Teen had Agreed to Work as a Police Informant." Associated Press. November 16, 2001. https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/148659887/

"The Future of Satellites and Forensics." Amanda Onion. ABC News. February 26, 2002. http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=98076&page=1

"Unsolved Murder: Amanda Vanscyoc." 14 News WFIE. http://www.14news.com/story/8256644/unsolved-murder-amanda-vanscyoc

"Warrick Officials Say Slain Teen Had Signed On as a Drug Informant." Evansville Courier. November 16, 2001. http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n1923/a07.html?7861

"5 Evansville Area Cold Cases You Could Help to Solve." Ryan O'Bryan. 106.1 KISS FM. 2017. http://1061evansville.com/5-evansville-area-cold-cases-you-could-help-solve/

Maps created using Google Maps.