There are roughly 1,140 missing persons cases in Indiana, according to the Missing Person Bulletin run by the Indiana State Police. About 280 of these cases are under the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department. IndyStar looked into some of those cases the 1990s and early 2000s to see where they stand. As of September, more than 185 people reported missing in Indiana a decade or more ago remain on the state’s bulletin.
When Mista Louks was called in for a meeting at the Greenwood Police Department , she thought it was about Chief John Laut retiring. Maybe another detective would be taking over her sister’s case.
She walked into the department in August 2020, 18 years after her sister Brookley Louks had gone missing.
In the meeting room, she remembers Laut’s cheeks getting red and his eyes starting to water. Laut was retiring, but he had other news.
After almost two decades, they believed they had found Brookley.
One by one, Louks locked eyes with the officers in the room and asked, “You think so?” The last officer nodded. Louks knew it was true.