Marcie Fuller Swinford:1985, Terre Haute, Indiana

 

   She was born Marcie Fuller on April 9th, 1964. 

She disappeared on Friday August 2nd, 1985 from Terre Haute. Marcie had gone grocery shopping. She and her children were staying with her Mother in North Terre Haute. Marcie and her husband were going through a divorce at the time. I wasn’t able to find a time of day for the grocery errand. Was it during the day or the evening? Was it dark out already? 

   Marcie’s Mother’s home was not far from the beautiful Collett Park in North Terre Haute. That area of town is full of gorgeous Victorian homes, shade trees and is a lovely spot to take a walk and enjoy the architecture and gardens. I had some friends who were able to buy an old restored Victorian home there. They swore it was haunted and sold it after a few years. That’s a whole other story, though. The neighborhood is also not far from Hwy 41. That’s a major North/South running artery in western Indiana. It runs from Evansville up through Vincennes and then Terre Haute and on to Chicago. 

   I wonder where she went for groceries that day. 

I lived in Terre Haute from 1988 and on for a few years. I shopped sometimes at Sav-a-Lot, the grocery chain owned by serial killer Herb Baumeister. It was a good place to cash a check for young college students in the days before ATM’s. It’s creepy to me now that my check cashing fee and ramen noodle purchases were unknowingly supporting a serial killer. 

   The Sav-a-Lot location I went to was not very close to Marcie’s house. (Baumeister’s victims were all men so he is not a factor.) Marcie's probably went to the Kroger on the Northside. I wasn’t able to find information about the exact location of the grocery store that  that she went that day. 

  Marcie Swinford did not make it back home on August 2nd, 1985. There was no article in the papers about her disappearance. 

  Her car was found with groceries she had purchased still in it on August 8th, 1985. Was it found at the grocery store parking lot? Still, this did not make the newspapers. Indiana has always had a deep disdain for women, single mothers, anyone struggling with poverty and women who are divorced. It still does,in my opinion. 

  Her body was found August 11th, 1985 a quarter mile east of IN. 63 on Thorpe Rd. I think I have found the right area but I believe the street names have changed. It seems like there’s been a lot of development down that way since 1985. There’s a Thorpe Road in West Terre Haute but that’s not the correct area. It’s not near IN 63. 

 

  Marcie Swinford was only 21. 

  Larry Dewayne Hall is thought to have killed Marcie Swinford. That seems likely. I would imagine that Marcie’s husband had an alibi. Hall made notes about trolling for victims at grocery stores and grocery store shopping centers. He is thought to have abducted Tricia Reitler in 1993. He was convicted of killing Jessica Roach. I think he abducted and murdered Holly Ann Anderson also. She was found incredibly close to the spot where Jessica Roach was found. 

   Hall’s modus operandi was to use a rag soaked in a chemical to nearly instantly knock a victim unconscious and then hustle them into his van. You could see that happening in a grocery store parking lot.  Maybe Marcie's was focused on loading the groceries into her car. Hall drove up and parked along the side of her. He could come up behind her and have the cloth over her nose and mouth before anyone saw anything. 

   Larry Dewayne Hall traveled a great deal to sites of historical interest. He was a Civil War and Revolutionary war buff and re-enactor. Some of his crimes are thought to revolve around reenactment weekends. But, it would not necessarily have to be that type of event. He could have just been traveling to a site or a museum.

  Marcie’s death certificate is odd. She was found on August 11th, 1985. Her cause of death was listed as “undetermined”.  Her death certificate was not officially signed until February 6th, 1987. That seems odd to me. Maybe they were still investigating her case. There’s a handwritten notation that says “amended”. Perhaps that’s why the official signature is 1987. 

  Marcie Fuller Swinford was only 21. She had four young children. She had a family and community that loved and missed her. She should still be here. Rest In Peace Marcie.

Rest In Peace Marcie