Chalkboard Thoughts

        In 1988 on April 1st, eight year old April Tinsley was playing with a friend in their Ft. Wayne. The two had started playing at one house and gone to another. April had forgotten her umbrella and at around 3 p.m. went to quickly retrieve it. She never returned. Her friends and family searched immediately. They called the police. This was the late 1980’s and police were more aware that time was of the essence. Despite thorough searches and media attention; they could find no traces of April Tinsley.     On April 4th, 1988, a jogger found the body of the second grader near Spencerville, Indiana. April Tinsley had been sexually assaulted and strangled. A shopping bag was found near the site containing a sex toy and one of April’s shoes.     A devastated community who had been hoping and desperately searching then came together to mourn the loss of this child. For so many people, this was the end of feeling safe in thei...

       Carol Faye Taylor was born in Lima, Ohio in 1959.  She was the daughter of Rosa Lee Taylor and Andrew James Taylor. They had a big family with 8 daughters and one son.     Carol was 17 and was the mother of two young sons, Cheyenne and Charles. They lived at 191 North Street in Akron, Ohio.    Carol has such a lovely smile in her photo. She looks bright, bubbly and fashionable.    Carol Faye Taylor was a teenager in Ohio in 1976.      Sadly, Ohio was a very dangerous place in the 1970’s. You might think about Ohio and think about lots of green farmland and idyllic countryside scenes. And those scenes are true but Ohio also had a very big murder problem in the 1970’s and 80’s.    I wasn’t able to find when Carol was last seen or when she was reported missing.    Carol was found in the woods behind the Roadway Express motel. That was located 300 ya...

       Dennis Madden was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Madden of Alpena, Ohio. Dennis went to Central Catholic High School in Alpena.    He was married and had one child and another on the way. Christmas was coming up on December 21st, 1964. I imagine Dennis was thinking about getting some shopping done for his wife. He might have had the radio tuned to Christmas music or maybe a ball game.    The Tri-State Shell Station was located at the corner of Princeton Pike and East Kemper Road in Cincinnati.     Dennis Madden was the manager of the Tri-State Shell Station. He was young but very serious about his job.     He was trained in industrial drafting but had not yet found a job in that field yet. The management position at the Shell Station would have to do, for now.     Dennis Madden was well liked at work. He was described as “the quietest guy”.     H...

        Bruce Lindahl died after accidentally killing himself by stabbing himself in the leg in 1981. He was kneeling on top of a male victim, Charles Robert “Chuck” Huber Jr, and was repeatedly stabbing him.     Charles Robert Huber Jr. was fighting for his life and in the struggle; caused Bruce Lindahl stabbed his own thigh. He cut his own femoral artery and bled to death so rapidly that he was found still on the victim later. Both Lindahl and Huber had bled to death. Often the death of Lindahl is seen as accidental but I think Charles Huber fought hard here. I think he was trying to save his own life but he may have ended up saving so many other lives. Bruce Lindahl was not going to stop abducting, raping and murdering innocent people in Illinois.     Bruce Lindahl was born January 29th, 1953 in St. Charles, Illinois. That’s in the western suburbs of Chicago. He graduated from Downers Grove North High School and later work...