Phyllis Jean “Jeannie” Bailer, 1972, Huntertown, Indiana

    


   Phyllis Jean Miller was born on July 13th, 1945 to Leona and George Miller. She grew up in Bluffton, Indiana.  

   She went by Jeannie. She married Richard Bailer after high school in May of 1966. In 1972, she was the mother of a two year old girl. Jeannie worked at a law office.


   26 year old Phyllis Bailer was driving to see her parents on Friday July 7th, 1972. They were to have a nice weekend visit. More than likely they would celebrate Phyllis Jean’s birthday. But, Phyllis never made it to the home of her parents that day. When she didn’t arrive as expected her parents called police to report her and her daughter missing.


   She and her husband, Richard Bailer,  had separated. Their divorce was a few months away from being finalized at the time. Her parents called Richard and he started driving toward her parent’s home searching for his wife and daughter. He found Jeannie’s car on the side of the road. Her bags for the weekend trip were inside. But there was no sign of Jeannie and Jodi. He went to a phone and notified police. 


   On July 8th, in a rural area North of Fort Wayne, a passing motorist found Phyllis Jean and her toddler on the side of West Road, ⅛ of a mile north of Schoaff road in a somewhat remote area near Huntertown, Indiana. The spot was a rural area in Allen County. (In 2025, there are several houses in that area.) 


   She had been sexually assaulted and shot twice and left in a ditch with her child. She was fully clothed. The gunshot wounds were to the head and the neck. Her 2 year old daughter, Jodi, was found alive despite having been left alone overnight with her mother’s body. Jodi had a head injury but was otherwise physically unharmed.


   Her car had been found in Grant County, south of Ft. Wayne, along I-69 with the hood up. Perhaps she had car trouble and had accepted a ride or been abducted by her killer. 

  

   Her husband and others were eliminated as suspects early on. Another man from Anderson, Indiana was looked at intensely. “Police didn’t think he was capable of murder, though” was the quote from one article about this case. Arthur Morris Jr. had been kidnapping and raping women in Anderson, Indiana. Why he was not in jail for prior known rapes? Rape was not considered a violent crime. Rapists practically got a pat on the back and were sent on their way by the men who made all the laws then. 


   Arthur Morris Jr. was arrested on Monday, July 10th, 1972 in Florida. The third one of his latest kidnapping victims had escaped and locked herself in a gas station bathroom.  Dana Hughel, from Anderson, was saved by Florida police officers.


   Arthur Morris Jr. had kidnapped two women prior to this incident and was still free to continue kidnapping and raping. He received a 25 year sentence for kidnapping Dana Hughel and was sentenced to a federal penitentiary in Oklahoma. He was also tried for an Indiana kidnapping and rape that occurred the same weekend that he kidnapped Ms. Hughel.  He pled guilty to those charges. 


   It doesn’t seem like he served his full sentence. He’s not currently incarcerated according to the Bureau of Prisons. An  Arthur Morris Jr. of the correct age married a woman in Anderson in 1989. Is it the same guy? It possibly could be. 


   Even though Arthur Morris Jr. was a known kidnapper and rapist; he didn’t kill Jeannie Bailer. 


   Jeannie’s case was cold for decades.  But, investigators did not give up. Phyllis Jean Bailer’s murder was recently solved in 2025 through DNA. The DNA on Phyllis Jean Bailer’s clothing was tested. Fred Allen Leinemann was found to be the killer. 


   Fred Allen Lienemann was 25 in 1972.  He was from Michigan. He had no known connection to the Bailer family. 


   Leinemann was murdered in 1985 in Detroit, Michigan. He was 37 when two men beat him to death and put him in a dumpster. Someone found his body and reported the find to police. However, before police arrived, Lienemann’s body was set on fire.  Two men were arrested, tried and convicted of the murder. 


   Jeannie Bailer should have been here to raise her little daughter. She should have been able to celebrate her birthday in 1972 with her family. She should have been able to experience all the richness of life well into old age. 


  Rest in Peace, Jeannie


This case is available and shareable on YouTube:


https://youtu.be/99HnbdP99Yw?si=ZDAqR-MoCWM8cN-z


   

   

    

 



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