Laurel Jean Mitchell: 1975, Ligonier, Indiana

    

   This crime was solved recently and the perpetrators were convicted after decades. That gives me hope for all the other cold cases out there.  It’s been so long that Justice seems impossible but cases like this prove that there’s always hope. 

   Laurel Jean Mitchell was born May 24th, 1958 in Whitley County, Indiana to Wilma and Richard Miller. She had a brother and a sister.

   Laurel attended Wawasee High School and was a senior. In her last school photo she looks a little shy and like a very nice young girl. But, she wasn’t shy and retiring.  She had been the 1975 Wawasee High School Girl’s State Representative. Girl’s State and Boy’s State are programs that allow high schools to send their best and brightest to a mock government summer camp. It’s a big deal to be chosen. 

   Laurel Jean was also a member of the Drama Club at Wawasee High School. She was a go getter. 

   In the summer of 1975 she was working at a United Methodist Church Camp near North Webster. Jobs for teens in rural areas are sparse. She was likely thrilled to have a way to make a little money. I know I was when I worked at Holiday World in Southern Indiana as a teen in the late 1980’s. My sister and I owned an old car and my best friend also had a car. We carpooled to save gas money. We were paid very little but it was better than nothing. 

   Laurel didn’t have a car though. She was walking  from her job at around 10 p.m. on August 7th, 1975. She had plans to meet friends at an arcade about a mile away. 

   This is a rural area and so it was likely a very dark and isolated walk. The full moon that month was not until the 21st. But, she was doing what she had to do to make a little money. She was eager to get a little bit ahead in life. It’s also good as a teen to get a job history started. You want to have places that can speak well of you when you apply to college or to other jobs later on. 

   She never made it to the arcade that night though. Laurel was found in the Elkhart river near Ligonier, Indiana. Two fishermen Clyde Homister and Glen Dixon, found her body and towed it to shore and called the police. 

   On her death certificate, her cause of death was listed as drowning. But Laurel had not walked from North Webster all the way to Ligonier just to get into the Elkhart River and drown. Someone had taken her there. An autopsy would determine that Laurel had fought for her life. She may have looked like a quiet and shy girl but she fought hard against her two attackers. Scratches and abrasions told a tale of a vicious assault. Who could do such a thing? 

   Laurel’s family was absolutely devastated. Laurel’s funeral was held and she was laid to rest at Mock Cemetery. Police investigated in 1975 but to no avail. Her case went cold. 

   But the killers were talkers. Three people who were teens in 1975 overheard things said by Laurel’s killers. These statements were compelling enough that the three eventually went to the police. 

   DNA testing has come a long way. Investigators in 2022 were able to find a DNA profile on Laurel Jean Mitchell’s clothes. Thank goodness investigators had saved evidence in her case. 

   After being named by the three tipsters and subsequent police questioning, Fred Bandy Jr. voluntarily gave a DNA sample. Testing would show that he was 13 billion times more likely to be the person who left that DNA on Laurel’s clothing. 

   In 2024, John Wayne Lehman testified that Fred Bandy Jr. of Goshen, raped and murdered Laurel Jean Mitchell in 1975. John Wayne Lehman denied being involved in the actual rape and murder. He was there, though. And he did know about it all these years. He said he was afraid of what Bandy would do if he told. Both men were around 20 at the time of the murder. 

    In Autumn of 2024, 69 year old Fred Bandy Jr. was tried and convicted. He was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole. (The court had to use the 1975 sentencing guidelines.) 

   John Wayne Lehman, 69 years old, pleaded guilty to his involvement that night in August 1975. He was sentenced to 8 years for conspiracy to commit murder.

   My question is what else did they do in the years prior to 1975 and in the years since? Did they victimize other young girls and women? What other crimes are these two responsible for? 

   Laurel Jean Mitchell had such a bright future ahead of her. She had dreams of college and a career. She was ambitious and smart. She deserved a full life full of rich experiences. 

   Laurel Jean Mitchell is still deeply missed and mourned by her family. Her grave shows evidence of many visits. She was so loved. 

 

   Rest in peace Laurel Jean.