GUILTY IN - DARREN DEON VANN, 43, Gary, body count at seven, more expected

[mysteriew]

I'm wondering why he moved Anith from the abandoned house to a wooded area and then back to the house?

Great question.

 

[Yoda]

In the nearly two years Vann was in the Marines, he specialized as a Hawk Missile system operator and earned a national defense service medal,the file says.
He was based in San Diego, Camp Pendleton, Calif., Fort Bliss, Cherry Point, N.C., and Yuma, Ariz.

http://www.statesman.com/news/news/...idnt-meet-expectations-a/nhp8J/?__federated=1

 

[mayqueen]

<snip>

Told Jones worked as an escort, Vann told police he posed as a "john" and lured her to a house in Merrillville around Oct. 10.

<snip>

Vann told police her body would not fit in a metal garbage can he had brought along, so he took off her shoes. He then placed the can in Jones' 2001 silver Chevrolet and drove to woods nearby, when he hid the car, according to the affidavit.

He came by later and moved the body to the 400 block of 43rd Avenue in Gary [vacant house], where he buried it under "teddy bears and several tires," the affidavit states.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-indiana-killings-20141022-story.html#page=1


Perhaps the house in Merrillville was not vacant.

Thank you, epiphany. My reading comprehension stinks today! I get it now. So maybe he couldn't leave her in the Merrillville house, and maybe the wooded area could only be temporary because the trees weren't dense enough, too close to the road, etc... so he went with his failsafe -- abandoned house in Gary.

 

[KateB]

http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/...cle_491617a5-451b-5c35-99a8-22dc073f6a5e.html
Family: Teaira Batey didn't deserve violent death

GARY | For months Marvin Clinton wandered the city streets peaking into abandoned buildings in hope of finding his girlfriend.
Teaira A. Batey, 28, of Gary, went missing in late January. By late February, Clinton started hearing rumors Batey — his girlfriend and the mother of his child — was dead in an abandoned building somewhere in the city.

Her body was so decomposed that Clinton was told his only option was cremation, something Batey's mother Gloria Collum is still coming to terms with.
"My daughter laid in that building for nine months," she said. "She laid there rotting for nine months. If they would have found her earlier, at least I could have given her a funeral but now she's nothing."

Collum plans to attend a memorial service the family is organizing next week with a local church. Clinton said Batey's body will be cremated and some of the ashes will be buried at a local cemetery. He said the hardest part about Batey's death is figuring out how he will explain everything to their son when he grows up. Trevon, unaware of his mother's death, appeared care-free Wednesday as he ate cookies and played around the house. Clinton said he doesn't want Trevon to think his mother was a bad person.
"She didn't deserve to lay up in a building for almost 10 months," Clinton said. "That's just inhumane for a person to die this way."

A lot more about Teaira and her family at the link.

 

[epiphany]

That bit about burying her under teddy bears and tires is pretty strange. Did he leave stuffed animals with the others? Where did he get the stuffed animals?

My guess is the stuffed teddy bears must have been in the abandoned home/garbage, discarded belongings, etc.

Also, not sure if this (the teddy bears versus simply the tires) would be considered a type of "undoing" where the murderer psychologically tries to "undo" the murder--in this particular murder, perhaps bc he had established a rapport with her for a month/month and a half prior to her murder:

He allegedly called Jones a month to a month-and-a-half before she went missing, &#8220;and was building a rapport with her,&#8221; according to the affidavit.

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2014/10...PH&utm_source=topvph_news&utm_campaign=596412

Yet, he's sly as a fox, not crazy as a loon, imo.

 

[KateB]

https://www.facebook.com/teaira.batey
More of Teaira's family members speak out in this post from earlier today.
http://www.twincities.com/crime/ci_26770493/former-st-paul-woman-victim-suspected-serial-killer
St. Paul native a victim of Indiana serial killer, her mom says

 

[mysteriew]

http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/...cle_491617a5-451b-5c35-99a8-22dc073f6a5e.html
Family: Teaira Batey didn't deserve violent death



A lot more about Teaira and her family at the link.

None of them deserved to die like this.

He "heard rumors she was dead in an abandoned house"?
Ok is this a coincidental lucky guess? Or is their someone out there who knew and who was talking about it?

 

[mayqueen]

We're not hearing as much about Kristine Williams as we are the other named victims. I wonder why that is. Do we know when she was last seen? This article says she had been dead for 10-12 months, but doesn't say when or where she was last seen, and by who.

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2014/10...-even-if-suspected-killer-gets-death-penalty/

 

[mysteriew]

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2014/10...uspect-in-north-carolina-murder-22-years-ago/

NC looking at Vann in the death of Camille Whalen 22 yrs. Ago

 

[PricklyPear]

It looks like they weren't all African American

One of the unidentified victims (as of now) had only skeletal remains, but she was blond. I know some non-white people are blonds naturally and she may have dyed her hair, but I'm guessing she was white, too. The cold case North Carolina is investigating was also a white woman, though as far as I know he hasn't been connected to that one other than by proximity and she was strangled like his known suspected victims.

But this does add a little more credence to the idea that Loretta Lynn Roberts (and perhaps Roxane Paltauf) may have been among his victims, IMO. Or even just Loretta Lynn, and her connection to Roxane was purely coincidental.

 

[PricklyPear]

According to the suntimes article he moved from Hammond to Austin and back because he was following his wife.
<snip>
1995 Austin TX, married wife
???? Left marine corp
???? Unknown dates in Austin, worked security guard and cleaning labs
2000 Split from wife, followed her to Hammond, worked in Casino doing housekeeping
2004 Lake County Indiana, accused of breaking and entering and intimidation
2006 Moved to Austin TX
2007 charged with sexual assault Austin tx
<snip>

The idea that this guy has been roaming free and possibly killing women for 20+ years is really haunting me, so in my free time today I started combing cold cases in and around the areas where he lived, using this timeline as a guide. Found a couple of possibilities, I think. Do any of these sound like they should be sent in to someone? Or am I really reaching?

Noelle Blaskowski - Found tied and strangled in Oakview Motel in San Antonio (not too far from Austin) on Dec. 13, 1996 by the motel's manager. The TV in the room was on with the volume turned up. She was a dancer at the Wild Zebra Club. Info at http://www.sanantonio.gov/SAPD/ColdCases.aspx (it's a PDF).

Shelle McGugin - Found strangled by an electric cord in an apartment in Bexar County on June 2, 1999. A POI was arrested but later released while Vann was in prison in 2009. Info at http://www.sanantonio.gov/SAPD/Cold...30: [url]https://identifyus.org/en/cases/3523 and http://blog.chron.com/newswatch/2011/05/cold-cases-database/ (they're in order by date).

Unidentified - African-American woman (25-35) found in a 50-gallon drum in a burned out tire shop, Harris County, June 30, 2005. Another unlikely one: https://identifyus.org/en/cases/3198

There were also a few unidentified women in the 20-35 age range in Bexar County (where San Antonio is) in wooded areas between 2005-2007, but I wasn't sure if those should be included. I know Gary police were checking wooded areas, but no one has been found in one yet, and he was living in Austin, not San Antonio.

 

[Lurkey Lou]

There is so much news coming out that I know I am missing some of it... have we heard yet when Kristine and the other three ladies who have been identified were last seen? I know that not all of them were reported missing.

It was one of my local news sources, but I can't find it now. They had said she was never reported missing and had spoken to her son in the last 3 to 4 months? I will try to find the link

 

[ClaireNC]

Unsolved strangled women in cary
http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/1341945-gary-letter.html#document/p1

And link to related article: http://www.newsnet5.com/decodedc//s...-police-about-potential-serial-killer-in-2010

I went through the list to find details for each of the murders. Some of them sound like they were solved or a likely suspect has been identified. There were several that I could not find any info on. I am not sure what that means.

Unsolved murders by strangulation in Gary, IN
Source: http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/1341945-gary-letter.html#document/p1

Essie Mitchell 12/04/2007 Strangled. Raped. Found outside backdoor. Elderly woman, 84 years old, was on her way to church when she was attacked on the sidewalk alongside her house at 2338 Monroe St. She was strangled, raped and left outside in freezing temperatures from Sunday morning Dec. 3, 2006, until she was found the next day. http://posttrib.suntimes.com/news/c...er-of-elderly-woman-in-2006.html#.VEe1gxb4L9M

Theresa Barnes 03/23/2007 Strangled at home, 50 years old, African-American, http://legacy.post-trib.com/obituaries/posttribune/obituary.aspx?n=theresa-l-barnes&pid=86979013 (could not find any news articles)

Unidentified female 02/26/2007 Strangled in garage. fire set
200 Polk Street. Gary. Ind. Black female, 16 to 25 years old. NamUS: https://identifyus.org/en/cases/4793
NCMEC: http://www.missingkids.com/poster/NCMU/1107266
On February 26, 2007 an unidentified deceased female was found in an abandoned garage off Polk Street in Gary, IN. She had been deceased for about a day prior to being found. The decedent was an African-American female believed to be in her late teens or early twenties. COD: Asphyxia due to Suffocation, burned postmortem http://doenetwork.org/cases/176ufin.html

Maria Mora 05/04/2006 Strangled at home. fire set Maria Mora, 36, was found strangled to death, the Lake County coroner's office said, after firefighters put out a blaze investigators believe to be arson early Thursday morning at her apartment at 4917 White Oak Ave, East Chicago. 36 years old, from East Chicago. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1N1-111F86711E0DE0D0.html obit: http://legacy.post-trib.com/obituaries/posttribune/obituary.aspx?pid=17647602


Kim Sam 02/14/2006 Strangled at home (no info found)

Abbie Vitoux 06/24/ 2005 Strangled at home. 52 year old woman, white, found strangled in her Crown Point apartment. Son was key suspect, but he was acquitted. IMO it is likely, though, that her murder was somehow tied to her son. http://posttrib.suntimes.com/news/l...from-grandmas-bank-accounts.html#.VEfhLhb4L9M
A Lake County jury acquitted a confidential police drug informant of murder in the strangulation and suffocation of his mother. The Superior Court jury deliberated about six hours before finding Allen J. Vitoux, 32, Crown Point,
not guilty of murder in the June slaying of his mother, Abbie Vitoux, 52.

Jacqueline Soto 12/28/1998 Strangled at home was 33 years old according to ancestry websites. (No other info found)

Joselyn King. 05/28/1998 Strangled. found naked in alley, (No info found)

Sherry Robinson 01/07/1997 Strangled. found nearly nude in alley, (No info found)

Candee J. Brady: 02/11/1997 Strangled at home. Murdered by her husband. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1N1-1084859BCD6998A0.html Candee Brady, 42, was found dead Feb. 9, 1997, on the kitchen floor of her Portage home - a plastic bag over her head and an extension cord wrapped around her neck.
Russel Brady told police he found his wife's body when he returned home from his night shift as a police officer with the Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad.

Yvonne Wallace 07/24/1996 Strangled. body near train tracks, (no info found).

Unidentified woman 03/25/1993 Strangled. Crawlspace. Abandoned house
1732 Monroe Street. Gary. Ind. (Not in NamUs, no info found.)

Unidentified woman 06/27/1992 Strangled. Found in abandoned house
3814 Pulaski Street. East Chicago. Ind. (Not in NamUs, no info found)

Ann Marie Russo 03/03/1992 Strangled in abandoned house front yard. Confirmed here: http://www.nwitimes.com/uncategoriz...cle_e552dc57-43ac-5cfb-b0da-a0e0159a96a8.html She was 24 years old and was strangled, found at 1925 Matthews Place (No other info found.)

Susanne Rohweder 11/27/1991 Strangled. stuffed in bags on back porch Born 5/29/1962 she was 29 years old, buried at Memorial Park Cemetery http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=31358190 Article suggests that her boyfriend was a possible suspect. She was found on the porch of his apartment building: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1991-11-28/news/9104170495_1_apartment-building-body-porch The body of a 29-year-old Lincoln Park woman was found wrapped in plastic trash bags on the back porch of a South Side apartment building Wednesday.

(Rayna Rison removed from list since the case has been solved. http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...n-Laporte-26-March-1993&highlight=rayna+rison)

Another source of cold cases from NW Indiana: The Times' cold case series examines unsolved homicides throughout Northwest Indiana and south suburban Illinois. http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/...ion_89df026a-da0b-11de-8570-001cc4c002e0.html

 

[colette]

Rayna Rison, La Porte, Indiana, 16 year old, On March 26, 1993, then-16-year-old Rayna was last seen leaving the Pine Lake Animal Hospital, where she worked to gain experience for her aspiring veterinary career.
A month later, her body was found in a small pond about seven miles north of LaPorte. She died of asphyxiation, perhaps, from being strangled. (Brother-in-law was top suspect.) http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/r...68e80e9ee.html

Brother-in-law didn't do it. It was a former boyfriend and the trial Oct 27- Nov 7. See Rayna's WS page.

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...n-Laporte-26-March-1993&highlight=rayna+rison

 

[bessie]

Nice work. I only wish I had the time right now to sleuth this one with you guys. :thumb:

 

[mysteriew]

I remember when the women were being found deceased in burning abandoned houses. IIRC it started and happened several times then seemed to suddenly stop. Now I am wondering if he was trying to find a new way to dispose of remains at that time? It got a lot of media attention. Wondering if perhaps he (or someone) didn't stop, but maybe just decided that leaving the remains without burning attracted less attention?

 

[ClaireNC]

Brother-in-law didn't do it. It was a former boyfriend and the trial Oct 27- Nov 7. See Rayna's WS page.

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...n-Laporte-26-March-1993&highlight=rayna+rison

Thanks colette! I edited my post to remove her name from the list.

 

[steelman]

Cell pings?
GPS in car?

Police Using Suspected Serial Killer’s Cell Phone Records To Track Movements


Investigators in northwest Indiana have begun using suspected serial killer Darren Vann’s cell phone records, in an effort to track his movements before his arrest.
Vann, 43, has been charged with strangling two women in Gary and Hammond, and allegedly has told detectives he killed at least five other women.
Police said Vann claimed he wanted to check on the bodies of his victims after he killed them. Investigators plan to check his cell phone records to find other locations where more possible victims might have been dumped.

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2014/10...illers-cell-phone-records-to-track-movements/

 

[steelman]

We're not hearing as much about Kristine Williams as we are the other named victims. I wonder why that is. Do we know when she was last seen? This article says she had been dead for 10-12 months, but doesn't say when or where she was last seen, and by who.

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2014/10...-even-if-suspected-killer-gets-death-penalty/

Kristine Williams

Williams, 36, was a resident of Gary and a mother of four, according to her mother-in-law, Deborah Berry.

Berry told CNN she had not heard from Williams since February but did not file a police report because Williams would often "disappear."

"I've been kind of wondering what happened to Kristine. She kind of disappeared," said Berry. "I haven't talked to her since February. She would call me every couple of months. I was like her mother. Her real family wouldn't have much to do with her."

Williams did not have a job, and according to Berry, she had two children from her marriage with Berry's son Siad, and two more children from different fathers.

All four were put up for adoption, said Berry.



Read more: http://www.wdsu.com/national/7-women-victims-of-possible-serial-killer/29269120#ixzz3GzdGMFIb


Kristine and her Dad

 

[ClaireNC]

Police Using Suspected Serial Killer&#8217;s Cell Phone Records To Track Movements


Investigators in northwest Indiana have begun using suspected serial killer Darren Vann&#8217;s cell phone records, in an effort to track his movements before his arrest.
Vann, 43, has been charged with strangling two women in Gary and Hammond, and allegedly has told detectives he killed at least five other women.
Police said Vann claimed he wanted to check on the bodies of his victims after he killed them. Investigators plan to check his cell phone records to find other locations where more possible victims might have been dumped.
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2014/10...illers-cell-phone-records-to-track-movements/

Thanks Steelman. That article is a good summary of what is known.
BBM That paragraph is a bit odd, but it sounds like they are using pings from his cell phone to track where he has been, because he admitted that he liked to check on the bodies. They are hoping the pings will lead them to more bodies. It could also be that he used the GPS on his cell phone and had locations saved.

O/T - I wish the media would find a better picture of Afrikka. The one they are using is sad.