IN IN - Carmen Van Huss, 19, Indianapolis, 22 March 1993

[CassieDee]

Thank you everyone for your continued support. Days, months, and even years continue to pass, but our family continues to hold on to the hope that Carmen's case will be solved. We are especially grateful to Det. William Carter for his honesty, integrity, and continued dedication to solving this case.

 

[Snoop Sister]

Sorry to read that there has been no progression in this case.

 

[meanmaryjean]

Bumping for Carmen!

 

[KSlaydon]

I stumbled on this thread today and have read everyone's comments. I find it hard to believe she was stabbed 50 times in an apartment complex and the killer hasn't been caught. These are my thoughts on this unsolved murder.

#1) In an article on wishtv.com it stated that Carmen was an aspiring artist working part-time while attending art classes at IUPUI. I never saw that mentioned on this thread. If this is true I believe that her killer could be a student that had an art class with her. Someone she would have been friendly with, had something in common with, and he could have even been to her apartment before the night he killed her. I also think if this is true that she could have seen him in class earlier on Monday and told him that her grandmother was sick and that she would be going to see her later that night. That way he would have known she would not be back to her apartment until later that evening.

#2) I also believe there is strong possibility that he lived near her in the same apartment complex. If he was struggling with her to rape her and she yelled "Get Off Me!" loud enough for a neighbor to hear it at 1:00-1:30 AM but a neighbor does not report hearing her scream or struggle after that it says to me he was able to silence her either by hurting her or threatening her. So it does not make sense that he would take the time to get all of the evidence up and yet run out of her apartment so loudly that a neighbor could say that they heard "hurried" footsteps leaving her apartment around 1:30 AM. Why wouldn't the killer quietly shut her door and quietly walk down the hallway so he didn't risk a neighbor overhearing him? Who was this person that heard the footsteps? Was it the same person that heard her say "Get Off Me!"? Was this person a male? Someone she was friendly with?

 

[dotr]

I stumbled on this thread today and have read everyone's comments. I find it hard to believe she was stabbed 50 times in an apartment complex and the killer hasn't been caught. These are my thoughts on this unsolved murder.

#1) In an article on wishtv.com it stated that Carmen was an aspiring artist working part-time while attending art classes at IUPUI. I never saw that mentioned on this thread. If this is true I believe that her killer could be a student that had an art class with her. Someone she would have been friendly with, had something in common with, and he could have even been to her apartment before the night he killed her. I also think if this is true that she could have seen him in class earlier on Monday and told him that her grandmother was sick and that she would be going to see her later that night. That way he would have known she would not be back to her apartment until later that evening.

#2) I also believe there is strong possibility that he lived near her in the same apartment complex. If he was struggling with her to rape her and she yelled "Get Off Me!" loud enough for a neighbor to hear it at 1:00-1:30 AM but a neighbor does not report hearing her scream or struggle after that it says to me he was able to silence her either by hurting her or threatening her. So it does not make sense that he would take the time to get all of the evidence up and yet run out of her apartment so loudly that a neighbor could say that they heard "hurried" footsteps leaving her apartment around 1:30 AM. Why wouldn't the killer quietly shut her door and quietly walk down the hallway so he didn't risk a neighbor overhearing him? Who was this person that heard the footsteps? Was it the same person that heard her say "Get Off Me!"? Was this person a male? Someone she was friendly with?

Rbbm.
Thanks for noting that!
http://wishtv.com/2014/04/19/48-hours-to-feature-solved-indianapolis-cold-case/
Jessica Smith Published: April 19, 2014

Carter is also working on another Indianapolis cold case. Carmen Van Huss was killed in her apartment on Harcourt Road in 1993. She was raped and then stabbed more than 50 times. No one has been held responsible for the crime. Carter heard about the case after a tip from an acquaintance and began looking into the murder. He wants his efforts to give her family hope.

“Way too young. 19. She was just getting started. She was just finding who she was and didn’t get a chance to,” said Van Huss’ brother, Jimmy.

Carmen Van Huss was an aspiring artist, working part-time while attending art classes at IUPUI. Her brother has a portfolio of her artwork to make sure he doesn’t forget his sister.

“I was just getting to know her. I would have liked to got to know her more. But I was a freshman in high school when it happened,” said Van Huss.

“Social media helps to bring these cases back out to re-introduce them to people…people will see those pages and start inter-connecting with one another from the time of the murder and they start remembering things that they didn’t remember, and they’ll start telling another person, ‘Hey, do you remember this?'” said Carter

 

[KSlaydon]

Things we know about Carmen just from newspaper articles and interviews (from what I have been able to gather):

She lived in the Turtle Creek North Apartments on Harcourt Road. It is currently a gated community (according to the website). I wonder if it was a gated community in 1993? Wonder if there were cameras in the parking lot - I'm sure that would have been checked by LE. If they did not see anyone waiting for her to get home to walk up the stairs with her then that might be an indication he lived in the apartment complex and went through the common areas to get to her apartment.

She was 19 years old which means more than likely she would have already had the beer in her fridge or the killer brought it with him. Wonder if LE checked surveillance cameras or receipts of nearby places that sold beer close to the place where the food was purchased.

Her grandmother was in the hospital at Community South Hospital. You would think that Carmen would have already eaten some dinner with her family that night which would mean that the food was not picked up by Carmen on her way home but brought by the killer as his excuse to get in to her apartment and then stay awhile.

She worked part-time at the Pizza Hut on 86th & Westfield Blvd (http://wishtv.com/2014/04/19/48-hours-to-feature-solved-indianapolis-cold-case/), she had been employed there for 8 months, and she was working 2nd shift (http://www.indy.gov/egov/city/dps/i...ions/homicide/documents/unsolved pre 2000.pdf) which would mean she would be expected at work on Tuesday around 4:00 PM not early that morning. So why did she tell her dad she had to go home that night and wash her work clothes? I think it was because she had planned to meet with her killer and she did not want her dad to know. An article in the Indianapolis Star on 3/25/1993 said her employer stated that "she had not been to work for 3 days" which doesn't make sense if she missed work Monday, Tuesday, Thursday but her body was found on Wednesday, March 24th. So was she suppose to work on Sunday and did not show up which I think would be out of character for her since she had worked there for 8 months.

According to a wishtv.com article she was an art student at IUPUI (Indiana University - Perdue University Indiana). Have they questioned males that were in her art classes during that time?

 

[Mountain Mama]

My bet is that this perp is a good looking guy. He is someone who has charm. Someone a woman would be willing to meet late at night just so she can spend time with him. He is funny, we know as they were heard laughing. 1993 was not so long ago that Indianapolis locals would not remember who the good looking guys were during that era. This guy liked to drink beer and I'm guessing he was popular too.

 

[KSlaydon]

There are two things I found that I thought were very interesting that have not been mentioned in this thread:

#1) In the 48 hours interview Sgt. Carter said "She was at home and someone came in". So that would mean to me that she had already gotten home and someone knocked on her door. They were unexpected because she talked with the killer at her door long enough for neighbors to hear her talking and laughing with him. He had food and possibly beer and was charming enough to get her to let him in which says to me she knows him. That also means he knew she would not be getting home until later to have food ready as his excuse to come in. I would think it was a neighbor in the complex who saw her come home or someone waiting in the parking lot for her to come home. If it had been a planned visit she would not have had a conversation at her door but would have just allowed the killer in and laughed and talked to him inside her apartment as others have mentioned.

#2) In a Newspaper article by the Indianapolis Star (3/25/1993) it states "Police say they have responded to reports of domestic violence there before." I tried to find old incident reports from 1993 for Harcourt Road at her address but was not able to do that online. But I would think this would be a very important piece of the puzzle that I am sure LE has looked into already. But if they sent the wrong DNA to be tested then this could be the reason that boyfriend and ex-boyfriends would have been ruled out at the time. I would want to look back over their alibis.

 

[dotr]

Wondering if someone delivering pizza or other worker brought food to Carmen's door,putting her in a position of having to stand there and talk for awhile?
Maybe he joked about beer being a part of the " order " and insisting that it was heavy or whatever and would put it in the fridge for her?
speculation, imo.

 

[dotr]

Maybe the killer knew the ex b.fs and was aware they were away and always fancied Carmen for himself?
Could clues to the killer's identity be gleaned from Carmen's art work? imo.
April 19, 2014
http://www.indystar.com/story/news/crime/2014/04/19/indiana-unsolved-carmen-van-huss/7903283/

In high school, she created a portfolio of artwork that her brother James Jr., has kept all these years. They show she was experimenting with pencil sketches of bodies, bold portraits of stylish women and bright colors and contrasting themes -- flowers amid barbed wire, for instance.

At the time of the crime, Van Huss' boyfriend was out of state; an ex-boyfriend suspected by friends also was traveling and not in Indianapolis. In addition, physical evidence left at the scene rules the men out as the person who raped Van Huss.

Carter said there are several indications Van Huss knew her killer -- the banter and laughter neighbors heard when the two arrived at the apartment and evidence in the apartment that Van Huss and the man had shared a late-night fast food dinner and some bottles of beer.

Carter thinks that the man likely was in Van Huss' circle of friends or acquaintances, but that for some reason he was not suspected. The detective hopes anyone who knew Van Huss might think back to that time to reflect on men she knew. Police did look into other men with whom Van Huss had been intimate, but they checked out, so the killer might have been someone who was a platonic acquaintance or in a secondary circle of friends, Carter suggested.

 

[Mountain Mama]

Just want to point out Carmen had a connection to a Waffle House (WH), which has been a common thread in several missing person's and homicide cases. Truck drivers have been known to frequent them, which has lead to speculation in other cases, I can not recall the specifics. If someone else knows which other cases involved people last seen at WH please fill us in.

"At the time of her death, she had been a waitress for about eight months at a Pizza Hut at 86th Street and Westfield Boulevard. She also had worked at a Waffle House." http://www.indystar.com/story/news/crime/2014/04/19/indiana-unsolved-carmen-van-huss/7903283/

 

[Gypsy8x8]

I'd think you're right, and the wounds were compared to knives in the apartment, assuming the weapon was a knife.

I thought of another possible scenario. Suppose she told the truth about washing her uniform. Did she have to use a laundry room in the complex? Could she have met up with the suspect in there? Did she recognize him because he was a neighbor? So after standing around the hot w/d's for awhile, they go to her apt to wait. Which raises another question, was her uniform found in her apartment? Clean, or dirty?

ETA: One more thought. There's a picture of Carmen with blonde hair. I can't get to it at the moment (on my phone), but it looks as though she's sitting near a swimming pool. I wonder if that was taken at the same complex, or if not, did her complex have a swimming pool. And if so, was it customary for tenants to socialize in the evenings around the pool. I have a hunch this guy either was a tenant, or a friend of a tenant -- part of a secondary circle of friends, as indicated in the article.

I agree. The thought I also have is, a familiar person at her property would be -Management, Maintenance, Neighbor (not to sold on that) recent Co -worker. I also would like to know was her uniform ever taken into evidence or found in a washer or dryer. This would help with timing . Due to if she was able to wash but maybe not dry or if both were done then that would account for time stamp on her whereabouts.

 

[Gypsy8x8]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...cold-case-raising-money-dna-testing/24085677/



Has anyone found out if the DNA was ever funded and done and crossed thru database?

 

[MysticJynx]

Have not seen if anything ever came of the DNA they were supposedly testing. I have been binge watching Cold Justice on Oxygen the past few days. So today I did tweet them Carmen for their consideration. I really hope some justice comes for Carmen Van Huss.

 

[Snoop Sister]

I have been following this case for quite a few years. Disappointing that there is no new leads.

 

[meanmaryjean]

Could DNA solve the murder of Carmen Van Huss?

Hopefully, the new technology will bring this family an answer.

 

[dotr]

Aug 16 2018

 

[willcarter]

I have returned to working on Carmen's case and appreciate all the suggestions.

 

[meanmaryjean]

I have returned to working on Carmen's case and appreciate all the suggestions.

No suggestions but hallelujah! I'm assuming the family knows? (Co-worker of a family member)

 

[Blue Girl1991]

I have returned to working on Carmen's case and appreciate all the suggestions.

Great news! I am so glad to read this

Thank you so much Detective Carter for all your efforts to solve Carmen's murder.

I know you put all your heart and use all your skills in order to bring Closure and Justice to her family/friends.

I tend to believe that the Murderer was someone from the a circle of people Carmen was familiar with, maybe even someone who she considered as a good friend?