On July 7, 1972, 26-year-old Phyllis Bailer was traveling from Indianapolis to Bluffton with her 3-year-old daughter. They were traveling in a borrowed car to visit Bailer’s parents. Bailer and her daughter left Indianapolis around 8 p.m. but never arrived at her mother’s home in Bluffton. Her family called police to report Bailer missing, according to a news release from the Indiana State Police.
The next morning, around 10:30 a.m., her car was found on northbound I-69 in Grant County. Her car was abandoned with the hood up and no one around. Indiana State Troopers from the Redkey Post responded.
Approximately one hour later, at 11:37 a.m., a woman driving on West Road, just north of Schoaff Road in Allen County, found Bailer and her daughter along the side of the road in a ditch. Bailer was deceased; her 3-year-old daughter was with her, unharmed. The Allen County Police Department and the Indiana State Police investigated the case. An autopsy confirmed the cause of death as a gunshot wound and determined that Bailer had been sexually assaulted…