The Murder of April Tinsley

8-year-old April Tinsely was walking home from a friends house to pick up an umbrella when she was tragically abducted, raped, and murdered by John D. Miller on April 1, 1988.

Around 3 p.m. when April had not returned home, her mother reported her missing. Police began to search for April, however, they were unable to locate her. Three days later, on April 4, 1988, her body was found in a ditch by a jogger in Spencerville, Indiana.

An autopsy revealed that April had been raped and choked to death. However, DNA technology was not advanced enough to assist in the case. With no leads, her case quickly went cold until 1990 when someone had written on a barn wall, “I kill eight-year-old April Marie Tinsley, I will kill agin.”

Police were still unable to find a suspect or any leads in the case until May 2004 when 7-year-old Emylee Higgs found a plastic bag on her bike containing a used condom and a letter saying, “I am the same person that kidnapped, raped and killed April Tinsley. You are my next victim.”

Three other little girls received the same notes throughout Indiana.

By this time, with advanced DNA technology, police were able to take DNA from the initial crime scene in 1988 and match it to DNA located within the condoms. The DNA matched John D. Miller. Later, Detective Brian Martin arrived at Miller’s home who confessed to the murder and was arrested in 2018.