2 Men’s Remains Appear Tied to String of Killings
by George Stuteville
Danville, Indiana. The discovery of the remains of two men on a hilltop appears to fit into a series of unsolved deaths of young men in Indiana and Illinois. Hendricks County Sheriff Roy D. Waddell announced Friday, “There is no question that this can be correlated to the other victims” Waddell said. A hunter found a skull Tuesday that eventually led police to the skeletal remains on a farmland hill near Belleville. Preliminary reports by Dr. John E. Pless. a forensic pathologist, show that both victims had been stabbed, and their pants pulled below their waists. The use of a knife and the disarray of the pants have been elements in the cases of many of the victims found during the last three years. Pless estimated the two men had been killed sometime during the last year.
Central Indiana police are investigating nine previous deaths. Illinois authorities have found six similar victims. In addition, the northwestern Indiana site at which the shallow graves of four men were found in October closely resembles the area at which the two sets of remains were discovered near Belleville, Pless said. The bodies of all the victims have been found in isolated rural areas, not far from major highways. Some of the victims were male prostitutes and may have been hired by their killer. Police theorize that other victims were hitchhikers picked up by the killer. It is “possible” that whoever killed the two men may also have slain Daniel Scott McNeive, 22, of Indianapolis. Waddell said McNieve is the only other victim in the string of deaths whose body was found in Hendricks County.
His corpse was discovered in May about 5 miles south of where the two bodies were found this week. McNeive was stabbed to death and his pants were pulled down. Detectives in the central Indiana police task force investigating the nine deaths have long assumed McNeive and John L. Roach, 21, also of Indianapolis, were stabbed by the same person. Roach’s body was found in December 1982 in a Putnam County field. Both victims were discovered not far from I-70. Lt. Jerry Campbell, supervisor of the task force, cautioned that a more detailed analysis is needed of the two Belleville victims before they can be positively connected to the other deaths. Waddell said the victims first must be identified. The sheriff released descriptions of the two and their clothing, hoping someone would recognize them and contact police.
One of the victims was a black male, about 35 years old with “bad teeth.” He was wearing a thermal undershirt and underpants, blue jeans and white tube socks with red stripes. He had been stabbed in the back. Waddell said. The second victim was a white male, about 18-years-old and 6 feet 3 inches tall, with reddish blond shoulder length hair. The remains showed evidence of dental work. He wore red jogging pants and white tube socks, also with red stripes.
