IN Phyllis Eckert, 70, Mishawaka, 17 Feb 1988

[ghoststeps82]

In the early morning hours of February 17th, 1988, Phyllis Eckert took her dog for a walk along 12th Street in Mishawaka, IN. Phyllis lived in the Village Green trailer park at the time. As she was walking along the road a vehicle came along side her and fired an unknown number of shots. One of those shots hit Phyllis Eckert in the abdomen. The police originally thought that she had been shot more than once but there was only one entrance and exit wound found during the autopsy. The shot caused Phyllis to die of an abdominal hemorrhage. The shot did not cause Phyllis to die instantly but she instead probably lived for anywhere between 5 and 8 minutes. A witness at the scene heard the gunshots and while he was able to get to Phyllis before she passed away he was unable to get any information from her as to who may have shot her or what the vehicle looked like. The witness described at the time of the shooting an older model Chevrolet Blazer or Ford Bronco with a dark-colored paint job and a white roof traveling in the area though police were quick to point out that this vehicle may have had nothing to do with the incident.

One of the prevailing theories regarding the shooting has been that the shooter could have been aiming at Phyllis’s dog and hit Phyllis instead. This would suggest one of two things: either the person was just acting out of spite to hit a dog that they did not know or they were acting out of hatred at a dog they were acquainted with. This has led some to believe that the shooter was a neighbor that Phyllis knew and had prior issues with. The police have thought that there was more than just the shooter in the vehicle from which the shot that hit Phyllis came from and have hoped that someone would come forward with information.