IN IN - Janeice Langs, 21, homicide/abduction, Elkhart, 8 Nov 1973

[TheArtfulDetective]

Janeice L. Langs



Case Classification: Endangered Missing / Suspected Homicide
Missing Since: November 8, 1973
Location Last Seen: Elkhart, Elkhart County, Indiana

Description:

• Date of Birth: circa 1952
• Age: 21 years old
• Race: White/Caucasian
• Gender: Female
• Height: 5'8" (68 inches)
• Weight: 150 lbs.
• Hair Color: Brown
• Eye Color: Blue
• Nickname/Alias: Unknown
• Distinguishing Marks/Features: Unknown
• Clothing & Personal Items: Unknown
  
• Identifiers: Unavailable

Circumstances of Disappearance:
Langs was last seen in Elkhart, Indiana on November 8, 1973. She worked a full day that day, drove a friend home from work, and has never been heard from again.

In April 1976, parts of Langs' 1972 Mercury Montego were found in a garage behind a burned-out farmhouse in Elwood, Indiana. It had been disassembled with a cutting torch.

Langs' former boyfriend, Gerald Casimer Libertowski Jr., was later charged with her murder in 1976 along with the murder of another missing woman, Janice Kay Sanders. He was later acquitted of Langs's murder, and the charges in Sanders's presumed death were dropped for lack of evidence.

Authorities continue to believe Libertowski was involved in both cases, however, he died in 2010. Foul play is suspected in both women's disappearances due to the circumstances involved.

Investigators:

• South Bend Police Department: 574-235-9201; sbpd@southbendpolice.com
  Reference Case#: N/A

NCIC Case Number: Unknown
NamUs Case Number: Not listed

Janeice Langs – The Charley Project
2492DFIN - Janeice L. Langs

 

[Diane Redfern]

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Investigators announced they were reopening two cold cases over the summer: Janeice Langs out of South Bend and Janis Sanders out of Niles.

Because Janeice and Janis’ cases are believed to be connected, the Michigan State Police and the South Bend Police Department have been in contact throughout this investigation.

Decades old Niles missing person cold case reclassified as homicide abduction

There are major developments in a cold case that's almost 50 years old. The disappearance of Janis Sanders is now a homicide abduction case. She was last seen i

wwmt.com

Janeice L. Langs (Deceased), South Bend, IN Indiana

Classmate Profile for Janeice L. Langs, LaSalle LaSalle 1966 - 2002

www.southbendlasalle.com

 

[heartanium]

11 December 1974, The South Bend Tribune, pg 28



7 August 1975, The Herald-Palladium, pg 1



I'll have to post more when I get home but there's a good number of articles written on her and the other missing woman.

 

[StarrChance]

Gerald Casimer Libertowski Jr. Death certificate states he was a contractor in construction, married in 1977 and had two children from that marriag.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

After Janis disappeared and her car was found abandoned in Niles... Detectives on her case realized her ex-boyfriend, Gerald Libertowski, had also been involved with another woman who went missing a couple years before: Janeice Langs of South Bend.

"The two cases resembled each other so closely that it was pretty, pretty good information to us that he was probably the perpetrator and the killer of both girls," said Travis.

According to Travis, there was a pattern: Janeice moved in with Libertowski, there was alleged abuse, she moved out, and disappeared. He says the same happened with Janis, who moved in right after.

Travis started working with South Bend detectives as they put together Janeice's murder case, also charging him out of Michigan for Janis' murder.

They were able to get Libertowski's former business partner, Myron Hunsberger, to testify.

Myron claims he knew Libertowski killed Janeice and allegedly helped him cut up and bury her brand-new car.

Authorities made another discovery during a search of Libertowski's basement: Janeice's prescription found in a crawl space.

"She had moved out she wasn't living there when that pill bottle was prescribed and we found a wallet with credit cards, driver's license and other information in there: Jan Sanders,” said Travis.

Janeice's case went to trial and a South Bend jury found Libertowski not guilty.

After that decision the Berrien County prosecutor dropped the charges against him for Janis's death.

As some would say at the time, "No body -- no case."

Special Report: Former investigator back on the case of two women missing since the 1970s

Momentum might be building as investigators examine new developments in a 50-year-old cold case.Just a few months ago, authorities reopened the case of Janis Sa

wsbt.com

Janis Sanders' disappearance mirrored that of Janeice Langs, who was reported as a runaway on Nov. 8, 1973. Langs had recently moved back in with her parents in South Bend after a brief engagement to Libertowski. That day, archives say, Langs worked her job for a finance company and gave a coworker a ride home.

She was never seen again. Lori Mann, who was 12 years old at the time, remembers her parents calling the police that night and telling them they suspected Libertowski was behind it all.

“Gerry did something with her," Mann remembers her mother saying that day. Archival Tribune coverage states police eventually found parts of Langs' car behind a barn downstate in Elwood, Ind., but that it appeared to have been dissected by a blowtorch.

Detectives quickly made the connection that both Janis Sanders and Janeice Langs had dated Libertowski before they were reported missing. In the weeks after Janis disappeared, Tribune archives show, police searched a farm belonging to Libertowski’s family but did not find the bodies of either woman.

Two Michiana women went missing 50 years ago. Now their families feel answers are close.

Families of Niles and South Bend women believe their 1970s disappearances were linked. Now those relatives hope they are zeroing in on answers.

www.southbendtribune.com

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Troopers used a drone to search the family farm of Gerald Libertowski in Berrien County.

Libertowski died in 2010

He was the primary suspect in the disappearances of Janis Sanders and Janeice Langs.

The two women disappeared in the mid-1970s, and troopers hope the drones will help to locate their remains.

“Today's just kind of a collection day. So, all of the data is collected today and then there will be several days’ worth of processing the data to actually see what we are looking at and at that point in time that information would be given to the detectives and then the detectives would follow up,” said Sgt. Michael Darrow, Michigan State Police Aviation Unit.

Investigators tell WSBT 22 drones can help them map the area and tell if the ground has been disturbed.

That could indicate someone was buried or dug up, possibly leading to new evidence in the case.

Aerial Search in Michigan Cold Cases

Michigan State Police conducted a new search Friday in an effort to solve a pair of 50-year-old cold cases profiled by WSBT 22.RELATED:Efforts ramp up to find

wsbt.com

 

[musicaljoke]

Oh my, it was so long ago that mature trees could be hiding the places where the women were buried.

 

[PommyMommy]

Janeice Langs – The Charley Project

Janeice Langs​

Langs, circa 1973; Jerry Libertowski

• Missing Since 11/08/1973
• Missing From Elkhart, Indiana
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Female
• Race White
• Age 24 years old
• Height and Weight Unknown
• Associated Vehicle(s)1972 Mercury Montego (accounted for)
• Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Blonde hair, blue eyes.

Details of Disappearance​

Langs was last seen in Elkhart, Indiana on November 8, 1973. She worked a full day that day, drove a friend home from work, and disappeared afterwards. Her parents last saw her when she ate breakfast with them at their home. She has never been heard from again.

In April 1976, parts of Langs's 1972 Mercury Montego were found in a garage behind a burned-out farmhouse in Elwood, Indiana. It had been disassembled with a cutting torch.

Gerald Casimer "Jerry" Libertowski Jr. was charged with Langs's murder in 1976. They had dated each other and lived together at one time, but in September 1973, Langs broke up with him and moved out of their home. A photo of Libertowski is posted with this case summary.

He was also charged with the murder of another ex-girlfriend, Janis Sanders, who disappeared in 1975 and was never located. Sanders's wallet and a pill bottle belonging to Langs were discovered hidden in the crawl space of Libertowski's house after the women's disappearances. He was the last person known to have been with Sanders, and the day after her disappearance he had facial injuries he hadn't had the night before.

Libertowski also allegedly told his former business partner he'd killed the women, and that another man had taken Langs's car apart. When police confronted that person, he admitted to dismantling the vehicle but said he didn't know it had been a murder victim's car; he stated Libertowski had told him he wanted it destroyed because the finance company was about to repossess it.

Libertowski always maintained his innocence and implicated another woman in Langs's death. He says he witnessed this person bury Langs alive, but he did not tell police at the time because he was afraid.

He was later acquitted of Langs's murder, and the charges in Sanders's presumed death were dropped for lack of evidence. Authorities continue to believe he was involved in both cases, however. He died in 2010, at the age of 67. Foul play is suspected in Langs's case due to the circumstances involved.

Last updated April 27, 2023; picture added, distinguishing characteristics and details of disappearance updated.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

This is the third search in about two months on his Berrien County family farm.

This weekend's search is not believed to be the last.

Search continues for cold case victims' bodies on Berrien County property

There has been no word on the outcome of another property search in a cold case double homicide investigation.Michigan State Police (MSP) used ground penetratin

wsbt.com

 

[dotr]

Thread for the second missing woman associated with the POI in this case..

MI - Janis Kay Sanders 24 missing from Niles, Michigan 1976

Photo added to NAMUS today (09/12/22)

www.websleuths.com