Robin Fuldauer:1992, Indianapolis

   

   Robin Fuldauer managed the Payless Shoe Store next to the Speedway Gas Station on Pendleton Pike in Indianapolis in 1992. Some things have changed since then. The Speedway Gas Station is still there. The Payless is now a battery store. But back in 1992 the Payless Shoe Store would have been getting ready for a very busy few weeks.  Easter was coming up and shoe sales always climb before the holidays. Spring occasions like prom and graduations also drive new shoe sales. The store would have been full of sandals, pumps, flats and dress shoes for the whole family. Payless would have also stocked lots of affordable tennis shoes all year long as well. This location on Pendleton Pike on Indianapolis’ eastside was just off 465 and not far from Interstate 70. 

   Robin Fuldauer was born December 16th, 1965 to Carole Lucas Fuldauer and Elliott Fuldauer. She was a graduate of Lawrence Central High School and later Indiana University as well. She managed the Payless Shoesource and prior to that had managed PicWay Shoes in Lafayette. 

   On Wednesday April 8th, 1992, 26 year old Robin Fuldauer was working at the store alone. That wasn’t unusual. A weekday would really only need one staff member to handle the customers. A Saturday or Sunday was another story.

   Robin sold two pairs of shoes at 1:15 p.m. That was the last sale recorded on the register tape.

   During the afternoon Robin’s district manager was concerned that the phone was going unanswered. The district manager called the Speedway gas station and asked an employee there to go check on Robin. That employee, Lucretia Gullett, saw that the Payless register drawer was open and went no further inside. She knew that this was a crime scene with just that brief look inside. She told the district manager to call the police. 

   At 2:21 p.m. the police found Robin in the back room of the shop. She had been shot in the head with a .22 caliber weapon.

   In the coming weeks police in several states along I-70 would notice a pattern of people working alone in shops being robbed and murdered in a similar way. 

   On April 27th, 1992, a man was killed at Sylvia’s Ceramics in Terre Haute, a block from I-70. A double murder at a bridal shop Off I-70 happened in Missouri. All were committed with a.22 caliber weapon. There were several murders in Texas also connected to the same killer as well. 

   In some of the cases there would be eyewitnesses who described a man that they saw exiting those crime scenes. Those sketches would be released and published in newspapers. Television news reports would tell viewers to be on the lookout for the suspect. 

   At the Terre Haute shoe store I worked at in 1994-1995, one of my coworkers would convince the manager to staff us in twos for a bit of added safety. The I-70 killer was still in the news and still had not been caught. We studied the suspect sketches and looked at customers with caution even as we pleasantly chatted with them and sold them shoes. I remember working alone, though, on April 19th, 1995 when a trucker came in and asked if I had heard about the terrible bombing in Oklahoma City. I hadn’t heard about it yet that morning as the radio station I was listening to hadn’t yet broken in with any news reports. 

   Who was the killer? Where did he go? Where was he from? All of these I-70 murders are still unsolved. Nowadays most businesses have invested in security cameras. Many retail shops have cameras both inside the store and outside the store. But in 1992, this was not the case. It hadn’t been seen as necessary. 

   

   I’ll have more about the Interstate 70 Killer in my next posts. The investigation is still ongoing. Police aren’t giving up. 

   Robin Fuldauer was only 26. She hoped to have a family one day. She was a beloved daughter, sister, friend and a dedicated employee. 

   Rest in Peace Robin. 

   If you have information about the I-70 Killer please contact 1-800-800-3510.