Jerry Michael Bayles:1970 Indianapolis

  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 route after all. Or, they were just stunned. 

   But Mike was not loafing.  He wasn’t at a friend’s house. His family was unable to find him anywhere. They had followed his whole paper route delivering the Star for him after all. One can only imagine their growing anxiety as they completed this task. They called the police to report him missing at 8 a.m. 

    As the neighborhood awoke to the news of their missing paperboy; someone called police with a tip.  They had witnessed the abduction.  They said they saw a car pull out of an alley and block the street. They said a man in his 20’s with dark hair had gotten out of the car and was dragging a boy.  The witness said another man was in the car as well. The witness said they objected to the car blocking the road and the way the boy was being treated. The perpetrator said that this was his son who had run away and he was taking him home. 

   The car was described as light blue/dusty green with fins and round tail lights. The license plate was recessed into the back bumper. The back window was trimmed in chrome. He thought it was a late 1950’s Rambler or Dodge.  He attempted to get the license plate number but only got a partial. 

   Mike was found the same day about an hour’s drive east of Indianapolis. He was in a roadside ditch on West County Road 550 South near Knightstown. He was nude except for his socks. He had died of multiple stab wounds. One stab wound in the back and several to the abdomen. He had bruises on his neck and right arm. They said there were no signs of molestation but also said this was probably the motive. His clothes and shoes were never found. (Black shoes, green pants, a yellow shirt with pink stripes and a windbreaker jacket.)

   His parents heard about the discovery of the body that evening on a radio broadcast. 

   The Star immediately went into action soliciting tips.  In the Sunday edition on October 18th which was Mike’s 11th birthday, the paper put out an appeal for tips and information leading to the arrest of the suspects. They published a sketch of the suspect that the witness spoke with. 

   The neighborhood was devastated and reached out to help the family. People did what they could. 

  Suspects were questioned.  One 47 year old man who had been accused of molesting two Star paperboys in the year before was brought back from Bowling Green, Kentucky. He passed a polygraph examination.  

  Each suspect was given a polygraph and the witness who reported seeing the abduction was also given a polygraph examination. 

   Police wondered why the suspects would go so far out of town to dump the body.  They wondered why they went across Indianapolis instead of going West and getting out of town quickly. 

   

    I have this theory of “away”.  What direction feels like “away” to you?  If you leave your house and you imagine going very far away…what direction would you go?  For me, it is always west.  As a kid, getting on the Interstate and heading west always seemed the direction of going away.  

   Did the suspects live in Indianapolis and going East felt like “far away” and an opposite direction from home and where they might be spotted and recognized? 

   One newspaper article suggested a link between this murder and the murder of Arletta Sue Remley on October 22nd 1970 in Connersville. Both victims suffered stab wounds. 

   

   At least two people know what happened.  But, maybe others know too.  Perhaps someone talked in the decades since Mike was killed. Maybe someone out there kept a secret out of loyalty or fear. Maybe they no longer feel that fear or that loyalty. 

   Mike Bayles was ten.  He was described as “a nice boy” and “not a smart alec” by a neighborhood girl. When he was murdered he was looking forward to his 11th birthday in just a few weeks.  

   Rest in Peace Mike Bayles 

 

    If you have information please contact the Indiana State Police at 

1-800-527-4752 or 1-765-778-2121