Brandie Peltz: Argos, IN. 1986
Brandie Peltz was a Fifth Grader in Mr. Kariger’s class in 1986. The eleven year old girl was the only child of her parents, Roxie and Steven Peltz. Brandie had been born on October 11, 1975 so she had only been eleven for a couple of months.
The family lived just south of Argos, IN on Michigan Road (Old U.S. 31). Argos is a tiny town south of Southbend, Indiana between Plymouth and Rochester.
In the weeks before this incident; the Peltz family had been receiving obscene phone calls. Someone would call and breathe heavily but not speak at all. The family was annoyed by the calls. They hadn’t felt threatened by the calls though. It had seemed more like a prank than something sinister.
The caller probably wasn’t speaking because he feared they would recognize his voice.
On December 11, 1986, Brandie was home from school because she was not feeling well. Since she was 11 and a very responsible child; her parents had left her home alone while they went to work.
When I was eleven my family did the same thing. I stayed home alone many times as an 11 year old.
Her mother, Roxie, came home over her lunch break and saw Brandie then.
At some point after her Mom went back to work; a man entered the Peltz home. He raped and strangled Brandie. He placed her body in the full downstairs bathtub and then set the house on fire. (I imagine he was trying to burn the bedding or wherever he raped her.)
The first case of DNA being used to convict a perpetrator happened in 1987 in England. It wasn’t long until it was used in the U.S. as well. DNA isn’t in the picture yet.
He put her in water to wash away evidence. He set the fire to destroy evidence. But what if he also wanted to wash her clean? What if he wanted to destroy and obliterate what he had done?
Someone passing by the house about 3 p.m. noticed the smoke and called the fire department. Brandie’s nude and lifeless body was found in a tub full of water. She had not drowned. She was already dead from strangulation when she was placed in the tub.
The name of the passerby was not released. Police ruled him out as a suspect immediately. Why? Who was he? Did he have an airtight alibi?
Who would know that she hadn’t gone to school? Someone at the school? Someone nearby that saw who got on the bus and who didn’t.
A neighbor possibly? Someone who drove a regular route that went past the house and took note of her waiting for the bus?
Sometimes as a highschool student; I would be driving to school and sort of get stuck behind the bus at some point each day. I would have to follow the bus from stop to stop, not able to pass. Was there a driver, not necessarily a teenager, who drove a regular route like that? Perhaps someone who drove a delivery route?
Maybe it was the obscene phone caller who had been calling lately. Perhaps he called and she answered in case it was her Mom calling. Phones did not have caller ID then. You had to answer it to find out who it was.
My suspicion is that it can only be someone fairly close to the family, though. Someone who had targeted Brandie in the weeks and months before. I think the caller was the perpetrator. I wonder if the calls ended after Brandie’s death or if they continued.
Was this her first sick day at home that week? Or was it like the second or third day? Was there a friend of the family who would have known or overheard that Brandie would be home alone again? December 11th was a Thursday in 1986. In reading articles about the case; I found that Brandie had been out sick all week with a bronchial related illness.
That window of time is small. That lunch break with Mom until 3 p.m. when the fire was spotted is a short window of time.
Was someone watching the house to see when the Mom would leave after lunch?
Where did Brandie’s Mom work? Where did Brandie’s Dad work? Was there a co-worker of either one who left work for a couple of hours that afternoon knowing Brandie was home alone.
This family went to the Argos Wesleyan church led by Rev. Robert Humphrey. Some churches have prayer circles. These are groups who pray for those in need in their community. People will even let the circle know if someone is home sick so they can pray for them. Was that the case here? Did someone with access to a prayer list do this? We all know that predators can hide in plain sight in the pews at a church.
My gut instinct is that this was someone very close by in the community.
The killer had to know that Brandie was home alone. A killer did not just knock on doors that day hoping to find a child at home at random.
The killer felt confident driving there and parking their car. They weren’t worried about getting caught at first. (The killer might also have walked or biked there.)
The killer knew that he had time. He knew Brandie’s parents would not be coming home soon. He knew when to leave. He knew their work schedule. He also probably knew that a school bus was coming down that road soon. His chances of being spotted were going to be greater then.
Was this killer connected to her school? Some schools in the 80’s wanted parents to call and let them know about absences. Parents would call to say that the child would not be there today and maybe make arrangements for another child to bring home the homework. Was there anyone who might have overheard this information or saw it written down somewhere?
Was this killer a co-worker of one of her parents? Maybe.
The Peltz family had a dog in the house that day. I feel like the killer was already acquainted with the dog. (The killer might have been a dog owner and comfortable with dogs.) The dog seems not to have been an obstacle to the crime.
Perhaps there is someone who knows something. Maybe they felt loyal in the past but they do not feel that loyalty anymore. Hopefully someone will come forward.
Perhaps there is someone that has harbored a suspicion about a suspect all these years? Maybe there was a man that was creepy but they have no proof.
Send the tip in anyway. Let police know so that testing could potentially take place.
Even though Brandie’s killer tried to eliminate evidence by placing her in the tub and setting the house on fire…evidence could still be there. It does not take a large amount of DNA evidence now to build a profile.
Did investigators clip her nails and save those clippings? Even if she was in water…DNA could still have been preserved under her nails.
This case seems solvable. Brandie deserves justice.
I have known a child predator personally and I can tell you this: Look at the nicest, most polite man. He will be remarkably nice; overly sweet.
If you have information about the murder of Brandie Peltz please call the Indiana State Police at
1-800-552-2959 or 1-574-546-4900.
https://youtu.be/8bQ3aKMPivA?si=wvLb5Aki1naPm5xF
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