IN IN - Ruth Becker, 77, Logansport, 13 January 1991

[JusticeWillBeServed]

Authorities continue to work the case of Ruth Becker, who was murdered 25 years ago.

Lack of leads in Indiana cold case frustrates police after 25 years

Twenty-five years after Ruth Becker was found stabbed to death in her home, the identity of her killer remains a mystery, which still frustrates law enforcement officials, including one detective who continued to work on the case even after retiring from the police department.

Becker, 77, was found stabbed multiple times in her heart in a house three blocks from where Cathi Collins used to live. Collins, a detective who worked on the case, helped revisit it five years ago after she retired from the Logansport Police Department. She told the Logansport Pharos-Tribune that for a variety of reasons, the case has stayed with her over the years.

Becker, who lived alone, was found on the evening of Jan. 13, 1991. Collins said the attack took place about 20 feet from where Becker’s body was discovered in front of the front door. A unique part of the case, she said, is exactly how the killer left the house.

“It’s a weird setup all the way around,” Collins said. “Her doors were locked when we got there.”

There was little Collins could say about the weapon, other than it was very sharp.

"She had multiple wounds," Collins said. "No one would have wanted to be victims of just one of them. It just appeared to be a very vengeful attack."

A 20-year-old murder mystery - January 2011

 

[DS2021]

@othram Sounds like there may be dna evidence for this one

 

[dotr]

• Jan 30, 2026
• 35-year-old cold case: efforts continue in finding Ruth Becker's killer.
• 
• "In a predominately quiet neighborhood it came as a shock. She never bothered anybody, so the neighborhood couldn't figure out why anybody would be bothering her," Cathi Collins, the original investigator in Becker's case, said.
  Becker was known as a kind woman who generally kept to herself. It shocked the community to hear she had been stabbed over 20 times in her Logansport home.
  "It had to have been targeted in some manner, we are just not sure exactly what manner," Collins said.'
• ''However, with advancements in DNA testing, Sgt. Clayton Frye said the police department resubmitted evidence a couple of years ago.
  
  "Since this had happened, the technology regarding DNA has gotten a lot better," Frye said. "That was one of the big things we wanted to look at, is what we could resubmit or maybe something that hadn't been submitted."