A huge break has occurred in one of the most heartbreaking cases I have ever researched. A suspect has been arrested and charged in the horrendous murder of April Marie Tinsley. The case haunted Fort Wayne Police officers since 1988.
The Golden State Killer had been identified merely two weeks prior to investigators seeking permission to submit DNA from April's case against that of a genealogy database. When the DNA was submitted, there was a DNA lead. This meant that DNA within the database belonged to a family member of the man who had killed April.
Upon further investigation, authorities were able to narrow the suspect pool down to a set of brothers. Both were put on surveillance on July 2, 2018. Police searched the trash belonging to one of the brothers, John Miller of Grabill, on July 6, 2018. Investigators were able to recover three used condoms containing DNA.
The DNA from the condoms was tested against that found on the body of April and the notes later left with children's bikes. On July 9, 2018, it was confirmed the DNA was a match.
Police went to Miller's home on July 15, 2018. They requested that he accompany them to the Fort Wayne police department. He complied. When asked why Miller thought police wished to speak with him, he answered "April Tinsley." Officers proceeded to question how his DNA ended up on April's remains, to which he had no answer.
While in police custody on July 15, 2018, John Miller confessed to abducting, assaulting, and murdering April. It is believed he abducted her taking her to his trailer, where he raped and murdered her. He stated in documents submitted to the court that he strangled her so that she would be unable to report the crime. He stated that it took approximately ten minutes for her to die.
Janet Tinsley was asked to comment on the arrest of a suspect in her daughter's case. She stated that she feared an arrest would never occur. I am pleased that justice can be served for her and her daughter. But Janet still has only one question for the man that took her daughter from her: why?
---------Sources-----------
"Charges Filed Against Suspect in April Tinsley Case: Child Molestation, Murder." Indy Star. Kevin, Billy. Pinho, Faith E. July 18, 2018.
"Child-Killer Taunted Investigators fo 30 Years with Disturbing Notes. DNA Ends the Mystery of Who Did it, Police Say." CNN. Levenson, Eric. Watts, Amanda. July 17, 2018.
"Here's What We Know About the April Tinsley Cold-Case Murder." Indy Star. Kevin, Billy. July 17, 2018.
_______Author's Note_________________________
Sorry I didn't have this up yesterday. We found out the hard way that my three year old is allergic to bees. Also, if there are formatting issues I did this all from the app so I'll fix any problems tomorrow morning.
As always if you want to connect and see the research process, check me out on Twitter at ColdIndiana. Thanks for reading!
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Cold Cases of Indiana: A Study of Unsolved Cases in the Heartland
Non-FictionCold 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...
