Chalkboard Thoughts

         Delores Jean Alkire was born September 5th 1968 to John and Margaret Alkire. She married David Wells on June 9th 1984. The couple welcomed a son in 1985.     In 1987 Delores Wells was a Mom and homemaker caring for her 2 year old boy, David Lee. It should have been a joyful time in her life. On January 26th, 1987 all that changed. She was walking home from a relative’s house in Terre Haute when she was kidnapped.    Delores was abducted on January 26th 1987 by Bill Benefiel. He grabbed her and took her to one of his three run down homes on 13 ½ Street in NorthTerre Haute. She would not be alone there in her captivity.          Bill Benefiel had abducted teenager Alicia Elmore on October 10th, 1986. She had been walking to a corner store to buy her mother a soda. Her Mom was sick and thought the soft drink would help settle her stomach. Alicia had been there for months now ...

        Linda Lynn Weldy was born a little over a month after the U.S. Bicentennial, on August 13th 1976. Her Mother was Karen Lewis. She had a brother, William Lewis who was two years older than her. In 1987 her father had been out of the picture for some time.  She had a step father, Robert Egolf. Karen Lewis and Robert Egolf had been together for years.  They officially married in 1988.    In early March of 1979 the family suffered a house fire at 311 D Street in LaPorte and Robert Egolf helped everyone escape. He and Karen both suffered cuts as they helped the children get out of a window. A young person passing by also assisted as the family escaped through the broken window. The children, 2 year old Linda and 4 year old William, were unharmed.     In 1987 the family lived at 181 West McClung Road near Fishtrap Lake on the northwest side of LaPorte, Indiana. Karen worked at a factory.  Linda attended Cri...

  Jerry Michael Bayles Jr. was a paperboy for the Indianapolis Star Newspaper. He was ten years old in 1970 and looked quite a bit like a young Ron Howard from The Andy Griffith Show with his red hair. He was born on October 18th 1959 to Lucille and Jerry Bayles. They had a big family of five children altogether. In 1970 they lived at 3028 Jackson St. in Indianapolis. That is on the southwest side of Indianapolis. He went by the nickname “Mike”.     On Saturday October 3rd 1970 he was up early and on his paper route.  He had delivered two papers and was last seen about a block away from home at 12 South Harris Avenue. His bike was found there by the homeowner. That man called the Star’s circulation department. The paper called the Bayles home and so Mike’s parents and older brother proceeded to deliver the rest of the papers on the route.  I imagine that they thought Mike was goofing off somewhere.  Maybe they thought he was too young for a paper...