Cold cases from Indiana discussed, mapped, and brought back into public eye. In this book, every chapter is a new case with new victims. From Burger Chef to Lauren Spierer, I cover all types of unsolved cases. Theories and serial killer studies incl...
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Tuesday, June 6, 1978 was a normal day in rural Clayton, Indiana. Clayton has less than one thousand residents, even today. It was an average June day with the temperatures hovering in the upper 70s.
Mary Ann Higginbotham was a 22 year old woman lived with her boyfriend of two years, Timothy Lee Willoughby. Tim was 25 in 1978. Mary Ann worked at Laughner's diner in Plainfied. Tim moved between odd jobs at numerous body shops in the area, but didn't have a known job at the time.
June sixth was the last time Mary Ann was seen alive. No one bothered to report her missing. I find this concerning since she was not seen again until June 5 in 1979.
Nearly a year after Mary Ann was last seen, sixteen miles from where she lived in Clayton, a teen was enjoying a warm June day by White Lick Creek off of Sycamore Lane in Mooresville, Indiana.
The was walking along the creek bank and saw a 55-gallon barrel. This was pretty out of place, but not an immediate cause to call authority. He probably would have just thought that someone had dumped it there. When he approached the barrel, he discovered that it was welded shut. So, he had a hammer and decided to bust the side to see what was inside. Like most teens, he was curious.
After busting through the barrel, he put his eye to it to see what was inside. He was unpleasantly surprised with the contents of the barrel. A skull was the first thing the boy was. He promptly called authorities.
When authorities arrived and secured the barrel, they soon were able to examine the contents. Inside of three layers of carpet, one layer of plastic, and a sleeping bag, a the skeletal remains of a body were found. If the body had been wrapped in so much material, I am unsure how the teen was able to see the skull, but this is what numerous claims have stated.
The body was later confirmed to that of Mary Ann Higginbotham. There was no sign of her boyfriend Tim Willoughby, who hadn't been seen since the same day Mary Ann was last seen. Tim instantly became a suspect. Police thought that it was likely that Tim and Mary Ann had a disagreement which led to him murdering her, then he fled after disposing of the body.
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