US EditionState police solve 53-year-old murder case
- In July 1972, 26-year-old Phyllis Bailer was murdered while traveling from Indianapolis to Bluffton, Indiana, with her 3-year-old daughter.
- Bailer was traveling to visit her mother, but they never arrived, prompting a police investigation after her car was found abandoned on I-69.
- Police discovered Bailer's body in a ditch in Allen County; she had been shot and sexually assaulted, but her daughter was found unharmed nearby.
- Decades later, DNA from Bailer's clothing pointed to Fred Allen Lienemann, and Colleen Fitzpatrick said forensic genetic genealogy solved it.
- Lienemann, who had no known connection to Bailer, was murdered in Detroit in 1985, so he will not face justice for Bailer's death.
34 Articles
34 Articles
Woman’s Killer, Who Left Her 3-Year-Old Daughter Unharmed, Discovered 50 Years After Her Murder
Fifty years after Phyllis Bailer was found dead on the side of a road with her 3-Year-Old daughter unharmed, police have identified Fred Allen Lienemann as the man responsible for her murder.
Case solved 53 years after mom traveling with daughter found murdered
A suspect has been identified in an Indiana murder that occurred more than half a century ago, officials said. Phyllis Bailer, 26, was traveling from Indianapolis to Bluffton, Indiana on the evening of Friday, July 7, 1972, the Indiana State Police said in a news release. Bailer had her three-year-old daughter in the car. They were going to visit Bailer’s parents, police said, but the pair never arrived in Bluffton, and Bailer’s family called p…
State police solve 53-year-old murder case
By WRTV Staff Click here for updates on this story INDIANAPOLIS (WRTV) — The Indiana State Police Cold Case Unit has identified the killer in the murder of the 1972 killing of 26-year-old Phyllis Bailer. According to the news release, Bailer was traveling from Indianapolis, Indiana to Bluffton, Indiana with her 3-year-old daughter to visit her parents on July 7, 1972. Bailer and her daughter left Indianapolis around 8:00 p.m. but never arriv…
Cold case solved over 50 years after a young mom was killed, her 3-year-old daughter left alive
Indiana State Police (Grant County, Ind.) — Over 50 years after a mom was killed and her daughter was left abandoned with her body, the young mom’s cold case murder has been solved, Indiana authorities said. On the night of July 7, 1972, Phyllis Bailer, 26, and her 3-year-old daughter were driving the 100 miles from Indianapolis to Bluffton, Indiana, to visit Bailer’s parents — but they never made it, the Indiana State Police said. The next morn…
1972 murder cold case solved, suspect was killed in 1985
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — 53 years after Phyllis Bailer was killed, and her 3-year-old daughter was left alive in a ditch, Indiana Sate Police are able to confidently point to a suspect, but he’ll never face justice. From 1972 to 2025, clothing from Phyllis’ murder sat in an evidence room until a forensic genealogy company could test the DNA and give ISP and the Allen County Police Department a clear suspect, Fred Allen Lienemann. Phyllis was 26-yea…
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