The Evil Among Us

Summary

Cold Case Files – "The Evil Among Us"

Podcast: Cold Case Files (A&E / PodcastOne)
Host: Paula Barros
Episode Date: August 19, 2025

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Episode Overview

This episode of Cold Case Files delves into the decades-long investigation into the 1988 kidnapping, rape, and murder of eight-year-old April Tinsley in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The tragedy shocked the community, haunted her family, and perplexed investigators for thirty years until advances in DNA technology finally led to justice. The episode unpacks the original crime, the years of taunting from the killer, the impact on the Tinsley family, and the eventual breakthrough that solved one of America’s rarest cold cases.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Disappearance of April Tinsley

• April 1, 1988: Eight-year-old April leaves home to play with a friend; when she fails to return, her mother Janet immediately senses something is wrong.
  • [03:13] Janet recalls April's last moments: "She turned around and waved at me."
  • [03:29] Janet: "She yelled, okay. And she goes, I love you... and then she went on to Nicole's house."
• Immediate Search: Police treated the case as a possible runaway, but family and friends insisted this was uncharacteristic. Hundreds of neighbors, friends, and police searched the area.
  • [04:53] Janet: "She was excited to have a brother... she was overprotective of him.... She was more of a tomboy."
  • [05:42] Janet: "The first thing they did was had her as a runaway, an 8 year old. I said she had no reason to run."
• Community Impact: Fear spread throughout Fort Wayne as news circulated that a child had been abducted in broad daylight.
  • [08:07] Reporter Angelica Robinson: "It rattled a lot of people... they were scared to have their kids walk home from school."

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Discovery of April’s Body and Forensic Challenges

• Body Found: Three days later, April’s body is found in a ditch in a neighboring county.
  • [09:18] Detective Clint Hetrick: "A jogger... sees a young girl, deceased, laying in the ditch."
  • [10:09] April was identified based on the clothes she was wearing when she disappeared.
• Forensics:
  • No tire or shoe prints found.
  • Killer redressed April in her original clothes—an unusual and perplexing detail.
  • Key evidence: A missing shoe, later mentioned in a cryptic message years later.
  • [11:40] Detective: "She had been sexually assaulted and... suffocated by strangulation. Her clothing was taken into evidence in 1988."
  • DNA was recovered from her clothing—a key detail for later developments.

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Community Trauma & Early Leads

• Shock and grief pervaded April's family and the entire city.
  • [12:30] Detective Hetrick: "Any time police investigate a murder... when you add the death of a child, it makes it easy, more difficult."
  • [12:43] Reporter Robinson: "It sent a lot of people on edge. The thought that... a little girl could just be walking home from school and then just get snatched off the street..."
• Eyewitnesses: Two girls saw April being forced into a blue pickup by a white man, launching a massive search for blue pickups.
• Composite sketch issued, but leads petered out.
  • [13:07] Detective Hetrick: "Several hundred tips came in. And at that point, we started to follow up on those leads."

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The Killer Taunts Police and the Community

• 1988–1990: Case goes cold but fear and suspicion persist.
• 1990: Graffiti appears on a barn:
  • [15:29] Detective Hetrick: "'I killed 8 year old April Marie Tinsley. I will kill again.'"
  • [17:47] Mike (Family Friend): "Part of the message on the barn was, did you find the shoe? The police did not tell anybody that there was a blue shoe missing."
  • FBI analysis suggests the killer may be disguising their handwriting or possibly has a mental disability.
• This public threat further traumatized the community.
  • [18:25] Reporter Robinson: "Those notes on the barn really sent the community on edge... People were scared."

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Another Tragedy and Grieving Community

• Shortly after the barn graffiti: Another young girl, Sarah Bowker, is kidnapped and murdered.
  • [18:46] Narrator: "The missing girl is 7 year old Sarah Bowker..."
  • [19:15] Detective Hetrick: "Both girls were approximately the same age... Both had been abducted, sexually assaulted, and murdered."
  • DNA ultimately ruled out a connection between the cases.

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The Case Stalls—Then the Killer Returns

• For years, the Tinsley family struggles with grief, public scrutiny, and a lack of progress.
  • [20:11] Janet Tinsley: "You can't leave the house without somebody pointing at you, taking pictures of you."
  • Mike (Family Friend): Describes the Tinsleys' stress and health struggles.
• Sixteen Years Later (2004): New notes and explicit materials appear in the baskets of young girls' bikes, referencing April's murder.
  • [21:05] Detective Hetrick: "Very shocking. Investigators had a mix of emotions. Is this really our killer... or is it somebody that's just messing with him?"
  • Four notes in total; each contained explicit threats, photos, and a used condom—crucially, a strong DNA sample.

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DNA Technology and A Breakthrough

• Police compared new DNA to old evidence (from April’s 1988 murder), confirming the same perpetrator.
  • [23:09] Detective: "By leaving this condom they were providing us a very large DNA sample."
  • [23:22] Detective Mark Heffelfinger: "Police tried to compare any DNA from the condom to the evidence that was found on the clothing of April Tinsley... The DNA came back indicating that this could possibly be the suspect..."
• No matches in FBI DNA databases; killer remained unknown for another fourteen years.

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The Turn: Genetic Genealogy Solves the Case

• 2018: Detectives apply the technique used in the Golden State Killer case via Parabon Nanolabs.
  • [25:32] Narrator: "Detective Martin wonders if a genetic lab called Parabon might be able to use the same technique to find April's killer."
  • Within seven weeks, two brothers are identified as possible suspects.
  • [26:17] Detective: "One brother had some activity that we felt was very suspicious and fit within a profile..."
  • John Miller, living nearby, becomes the focus.

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John Miller’s Surveillance and Arrest

• Detectives surveil Miller, who works in the children's toy section of Walmart.
  • [27:53] Narrator: "Myself and another detective went in and plainclothes in Walmart and we found him working in the children's toy area. I found it very disturbing that he was near kids almost all day..."
• DNA collected from his trash matches the sample from April Tinsley’s case.
  • [28:16] Detective Heffelfinger: "Going through the bags, I found a used condom... as I continued to dig, I found two more."
  • [28:49] Detective Hetrick: "It's a match of John Miller's DNA to our murderer's DNA from 1988."

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Confrontation and Confession

• July 2018: Detectives approach Miller, who almost immediately references the Tinsley case upon being questioned.
  • [29:42] Detective: "'So, John, we want to talk to you a little bit about a case... Do you have any idea what we need to talk to you about?'"
  • [29:47] Mike (Family Friend), quoting Miller: "'I think Friday Tinsley case. That's the only one I can think of.'"
• Miller gradually confesses:
  • [33:51] Miller (quoting April): "'Said, don't hurt me. I'll do whatever you say.'"
  • [33:55] Detective: "Okay, John. Before she died, how did that happen?"
  • Miller: "Choked her."
  • When asked why, Miller responds: "'I was afraid she'd tell on you.'"
• Detective Hetrick reflects: [34:10] "It surprised me that somebody could do this and live with themself for 30 years..."

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Family Reaction & Community Closure

• Janet and Mike Tinsley, notified in person, describe the shock and mixture of relief and grief.
  • [35:14] Janet: "I went through 30 years not knowing who killed her. And all of a sudden, you come to the house and tell me you. You got him. I said, it might take me a while for this to actually sink in. After they left, then you sit down and you have your crying spell. You're happy and you're crying. Finally, it's over."

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Justice for April

• Miller pleads not guilty, but later takes a plea deal to avoid the death penalty; he is sentenced to 80 years in prison at age 59, effectively for life.
  • [36:44] Janet: "When we all was in the courtroom, he would never look at us... Most of the time, he looked at the table."
• In Janet’s statement at sentencing, she asks Miller why he killed April.
  • [37:09] Janet: "I want one question answered from you, but I know I will never get it. I want to know why. Why her? And the first words came out of his mouth was, he was bored."
• Community memorializes April.
  • [37:34] Janet: "I come to April's garden three to four times a week... I'll say, April, mama misses you more and wishes you was here. In a way you know she's around somewhere."

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Sarah Bowker's Case Remains Unsolved

• [38:08] Narrator: "Sarah Bowker’s case remains unsolved. Investigators continue to search for her killer."

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Janet Tinsley, on the grief and hope:
  "You got the little kids picture on milk cartons and you always keep telling yourself that that's never going to happen to you." (02:13)

• Family friend Mike, on the search:
  "We were out till probably 4 or 5 o'clock in the morning. Just walking up in the alleys and the railroad tracks. It was a long, hard day." (05:58)

• Detective Mark Heffelfinger, on the frustrating search:
  "Of all the hundreds of tips that came in, somebody believed they saw April Tinsley looking out the back window of this blue truck." (13:20)

• Community fear:
  "Those notes on the barn really sent the community on edge. You have somebody who is taunting the community and saying, ha ha ha, I killed and I'll do it again. People were scared." — Reporter Angelica Robinson (18:25)

• Detective Clint Hetrick, on finally closing the case:
  "To tell you that we were excited doesn't even begin to touch the feeling that we had. We were working a 30 year old homicide and we now had a very strong suspect." (26:30)

• Janet Tinsley, on confronting Miller in court:
  "I want one question answered from you, but I know I will never get it. I want to know why. Why her? And the first words came out of his mouth was, he was bored." (37:09)

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Important Timestamps

• 02:13 – Janet Tinsley recalls April’s last moments and the shock of her disappearance
• 03:29–04:04 – The desperate early search and realization something is very wrong
• 09:18–10:09 – Finding April’s body and gathering forensic evidence
• 15:29–18:25 – The killer taunts police and the community with graffiti; the case of Sarah Bowker
• 21:05–23:43 – Killer’s taunting letters resurface, bringing explicit threats and DNA
• 25:32–28:49 – Breakthrough via genetic genealogy leads detectives to John Miller
• 29:42–34:10 – Interrogation and confession
• 35:14–37:29 – Family’s reaction, sentencing, and lack of closure
• 37:34 – Janet’s visits to April’s garden and finding solace

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Summary

This episode weaves together family grief, community trauma, decades of investigative frustration, and ultimately the hope made reality through forensic breakthroughs. It highlights the persistence of both April Tinsley’s loved ones and law enforcement, the chilling audacity of her killer, and the power of modern technology to solve even the coldest of cases. The show closes with justice for April but a somber reminder that Sarah Bowker’s case—and many others—remain unsolved.

Transcript

[Narrator]

What do you think makes the perfect snack?

[Mike (Family Friend)]

Hmm, it's gotta be when I'm really craving it and it's convenient.

[Narrator]

Could you be more specific when it's cravenient?

[Mike (Family Friend)]

Okay, like a freshly baked cookie made with real butter available right down the street at a.m. p.m. Or a savory breakfast sandwich I can grab in just.

[Narrator]

A second at a.m. pM. I'm seeing a pattern here.

[Mike (Family Friend)]

Well yeah, we're talking about what I.

[Narrator]

Crave which is anything from AM pm.

[Mike (Family Friend)]

What more could you want?

[Detective]

Stop by AM PM where the snacks and drinks are perfectly craveable and convenient. That's cravenience. AM PM Too much good stuff Searching.

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[Narrator]

I'm Marissa Pinson and if you're enjoying this show, I just want to remind you that episodes of Cold Case Files as well as the AE Classic podcasts I Survived, American justice and City Confidential are all available ad free on the new AE Crime and Investigation channel on Apple Podcasts and Apple plus for just 4.99amonth or 39.99 a year. And now onto the show. The following episode contains disturbing accounts of physical and sexual violence involving children.

[Janet Tinsley (April's Mother)]

Listener discretion is April was just an ordinary little girl. You got the little kids picture on milk cartons and you always keep telling yourself that that's never going to happen to you.

[Reporter (Angelica Robinson)]

It was very unusual for a child to disappear in broad daylight.

[Janet Tinsley (April's Mother)]

You're out there screaming and hollering, yelling.

[Mike (Family Friend)]

April, this guy raped and murdered a child. It rocked the whole city.

[Detective Clint Hetrick]

Then another young girl goes missing and her case ends up being a homicide.

[Detective]

Also, this monster was still on our streets. They were stalking young girls, bragging Saying that they were going to take more children.

[Janet Tinsley (April's Mother)]

I kept saying, we will find the person that did this. But I wasn't expecting it to go. 30 years.

[Narrator]

There are over 100,000 cold cases in America. Only about 1% are ever solved. This is one of those rare stories. It's April 1, 1998, in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Eight year old April Tinsley is excited to play with her friend down the street.

[Janet Tinsley (April's Mother)]

Nicole was April's best friend. She always wanted to play with Nicole. I walked her to the alley where I could see her crossing. She turned around and waved at me.

[Narrator]

April's mother, Janet, tells her to be home by suppertime.

[Janet Tinsley (April's Mother)]

She yelled, okay. And she goes, I love you. And then she went on to Nicole's house. April's supposed to come home between 3:30 and 4:00'. Clock. She didn't come home. So I called up there. Nicole's mom asked Nicole if April's still playing. And she goes, no, she was supposed to go home. It was strange. It was never like her at all. You're out there yelling for April and all of a sudden it was like panic mode.

[Narrator]

April Tinsley vanishes.

[Janet Tinsley (April's Mother)]

When I was 16 years old, I told everybody if my first child was a little girl, she's going to have blonde curly hair and blue eyes. And her name was going to be April Marie Tinsley. And that's what I got. Me and Michael, we got married in 1979. April was born March 18, 1980. Everybody says she was like me because she was shy and bashful. She loved Christmas. She always loved help decorate. You would tell her get the ornaments out and she'll help put them on the tree. The tree will be full on the bottom, but it'd be naked on the top. I would have to help her with the rest of it.

[Narrator]

April is six when her little brother Paul is born.

[Janet Tinsley (April's Mother)]

She was excited to have the brother. She was a good helper. She was always overprotective of him. And all of a sudden they're giggling and rolling all over the floor. She always be climbing trees. She was more of a tomboy.

[Narrator]

Doug Nonemaker is a family friend.

[Mike (Family Friend)]

I pulled up in front of the house one day and she was jumping off the porch. I'm like, you're gonna break your leg, kid.

[Janet Tinsley (April's Mother)]

But.

[Mike (Family Friend)]

That'S what kids do. Neighborhood was great. We had a small park that Janet and Mike would take April to. People knew each other on the street. Yeah, it was a nice enough neighborhood right up until 1988. And things changed.

[Janet Tinsley (April's Mother)]

I called the police department and I had to File a police report. And the first thing they did was had her as a runaway, an 8 year old. I said she had no reason to run.

[Mike (Family Friend)]

I have a police scanner and I had taken my wife out. But we got home after dinner and turned on the police scanner and I heard missing girl and they gave the address. I told my wife, that is Mike's address. That first night we went there, Janet was kind of frantic. She was, you know, a mother. You know, you don't mess with the mother's child. Mike, I don't want to say he was calm, but he also was hoping that April was at a friend's house and just didn't call. My wife stayed with Janet while Mike and I were out till probably 4 or 5 o' clock in the morning. Just walking up in the alleys and the railroad tracks. It was a long, hard day. There was a huge law enforcement presence the next day.

[Narrator]

Brian Martin is a detective with the Fort Wayne Police Department.

[Detective]

This was kind of a gloomy, rainy day. Fort Wayne Police department began doing a canvas and a search. They were assisted by the K9 Division, the mounted patrol. We still had a horseback division in 1988. We don't have the Internet, we don't have cell phones. Amber alerts aren't going out. It was significantly different. It was newspaper, radio and television.

[Janet Tinsley (April's Mother)]

One of the detectives down there and they helped us with a flyer that had her picture as seen. Please call this number. Put them up.

[Narrator]

April's case soon makes local headlines.

[Janet Tinsley (April's Mother)]

The search started out small. Then all of a sudden there was close to 300 people.

[Narrator]

Janet stays close to home, waiting for any news. She's caught between hoping for the best and fearing the worst.

[Janet Tinsley (April's Mother)]

It might have been like two days that I didn't eat very much. If April ain't eating, I don't eat.

[Mike (Family Friend)]

As the day grew longer. I didn't want to say it, but I was thinking it was not going to end well.

[Narrator]

Angelica Robinson is a former reporter for local station Wayne 15.

[Reporter (Angelica Robinson)]

It rattled a lot of people in a sense of they were scared to have their kids walk home from school.

[Narrator]

Three days after April's disappearance, police receive a tip.

[Detective]

A tip came in from two younger girls. They saw somebody matching April's description being pulled into a blue later model pickup truck by what they described as a male white.

[Narrator]

The witnesses say the young blonde girl was crying. They thought it was a family argument until they heard about April's disappearance.

[Detective]

Law enforcement began looking for the blue truck, making traffic stops and interviewing the individuals who owned or drove those blue Trucks to see if they had any information.

[Narrator]

Investigating every blue truck will take months. Meanwhile, police run down all other leads.

[Detective]

Law enforcement's worst fear was that April was taken or abducted, and we knew that time was of the essence. Law enforcement was working round the clock to ascertain any information as to April's whereabouts.

[Narrator]

Later that same day, another call comes in. Clint Hetrick is a detective with the Indiana State Police.

[Detective Clint Hetrick]

A jogger in DeKalb county, which is the county directly north of Allen county, where Fort Wayne is located, jogging down County Road 68, he happens to look over into a ditch near the roadway, and he sees a young girl, deceased, playing in the ditch. The jogger ran to a nearby house, called 911. Police responded to the scene of the ditch on County Road 68 and immediately began processing the crime scene, looking for clues, trying to figure out who the young girl is.

[Detective]

The body was not far off of the roadway. It didn't appear that the killer was trying to hide her body. Law enforcement immediately ruled it was a homicide.

[Narrator]

Mark Heffelfinger is a retired detective from the Indiana State Police.

[Detective Mark Heffelfinger]

There was not much evidence on the body that was visible to the naked eye.

[Detective Clint Hetrick]

She was discovered wearing the same clothes that April had been reported missing in, and it's identified as April Tinsley. So at that point, it goes from a missing person's case to a homicide investigation.

[Narrator]

Investigators discover the killer had taken off April's clothes and put them back on.

[Detective]

She only had one shoe on. Law enforcement decided that this was a key piece of evidence and kept it very guarded.

[Detective Clint Hetrick]

A few hundred yards down the road, on the opposite side of the road from where she was found was her other shoe.

[Narrator]

Investigators suspect the shoe was tossed there.

[Detective Clint Hetrick]

There was not much there for police to go on other than the body and the shoe that had been located down the road. No tire tracks were located in the area. No footprints.

[Narrator]

The same afternoon, Janet Tinsley meets with reporters trying to keep her daughter's case in the public eye. Police hadn't yet told her about their grisly discovery.

[Janet Tinsley (April's Mother)]

And then all of a sudden, here comes this big plane car. The one detector goes, we need to speak to you privately. And the other one looked at the news and says, the interview's over. We think you might want to sit down. There you go. We got a picture we want to show you. I knew it was her. I was really upset, crying. My husband and his nephew came in. I told him, I go, well, you and Tom can go and take the flyers back down. They found her.

[Detective]

April's Body was removed from the scene and taken to the forensic center where an autopsy was conducted. She had been sexually assaulted and that the cause of death was suffocation by strangulation. Her clothing was taken into evidence in 1988.

[Detective Clint Hetrick]

DNA technology was very new to law enforcement.

[Detective Mark Heffelfinger]

There was a DNA sample taken from her underwear that was preserved.

[Mike (Family Friend)]

Monday, when I got home from work, my wife was sitting on the steps crying and informed me that they had found her and that she had died. We went straight over to Mike and Janet's to be with him. There was still a large police presence. Very little was said. It was just silence and shock.

[Detective Clint Hetrick]

Anytime police investigate a murder, it's not easy. It's not easy for the family of the victim. It's not easy for the police to deal with. And when you add the death of a child, it makes it easy, more difficult.

[Reporter (Angelica Robinson)]

It sent a lot of people on edge. The thought that a little girl could just be walking home from school and then just get snatched off the street and then raped and killed was huge.

[Narrator]

Police have one possible lead. The girls who saw April getting into a blue truck also got a look at the driver. They tell police he's a white man between 20 and 40 years old with light colored hair and stubble.

[Detective Clint Hetrick]

Police release a composite sketch of what the suspect could possibly look like. It's released in the local media. Several hundred tips came in. And at that point, we started to follow up on those leads.

[Detective Mark Heffelfinger]

They were everything from I got a neighbor who's kind of odd to I got a neighbor who's got a blue truck, to I have a neighbor that I think is a pedophile. You can't dismiss any one of them because any one of them could be the right one. Of all the hundreds of tips that came in, somebody believed they saw April Tinsley looking out the back window of this blue truck.

[Detective]

Law enforcement began a very focused and thorough investigation into the blue pickup truck. The Bureau of Motor Vehicles logs and records were pulled for all blue pickup trucks within Fort Wayne and surrounding counties, and ultimately most of northern Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan. We tracked down if the pickup truck was sold, who it was sold to, or if it had been crushed or sold to a scrapyard.

[Narrator]

Despite an exhaustive search, police can't find the elusive blue truck. Then, four days after April's death, while investigators continue to search, April is laid to rest.

[Mike (Family Friend)]

It was a beautiful funeral. It was just horrible. Lots of people showed up. Lots of people. Mike and Janet were in the front row. I just can't imagine how hard it was for them.

[Janet Tinsley (April's Mother)]

The day that we buried her was rough. Everybody goes up to the casket and says their goodbyes. I went up there and I put my head down on her head and told her that mama loves you, you can rest now. I wouldn't let go, so they had to drag me out.

[Detective Clint Hetrick]

In the beginning, there was lots of leads to follow up on, lots of people to interview.

[Detective Mark Heffelfinger]

After a year, things slowed down.

[Detective Clint Hetrick]

Less and less leads come in. The leads come to a dead end.

[Detective]

A telephone call came into the Fort Wayne Police Department with a new tip.

[Detective Clint Hetrick]

Police get a report of writing on a barn. This barn is located in northeast Fort Wayne on Schwartz Road.

[Detective]

On the barn they discovered a message that mentioned April Tinsley.

[Detective Mark Heffelfinger]

This was a big deal because it's the first lead they had in a while.

[Detective]

Law enforcement immediately drove to the scene.

[Detective Clint Hetrick]

Written in crayon, right on the front door of the barn, the message read, I killed 8 year old April Marie Tinsley. I will kill again.

[Narrator]

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[Mike (Family Friend)]

Part of the message on the barn was, did you find the shoe? The police did not tell anybody that there was a blue shoe missing.

[Detective Clint Hetrick]

The message written on the barn is written almost as if a child had written it. Police weren't sure if that's how they write. Are we looking at somebody with a possible mental disability or are they purposely disguising their handwriting by misspelling words? It was actually sent to the FBI for analysis.

[Detective]

The FBI felt that the individual who authored this note was possibly trying to disguise their handwriting or mislead law enforcement.

[Reporter (Angelica Robinson)]

Those notes on the barn really sent the community on edge. You have somebody who is taunting the community and saying, ha ha ha, I killed and I'll do it again. People were scared.

[Detective Clint Hetrick]

Shortly after the barn door writing, another young girl was reported missing.

[Narrator]

The missing girl is 7 year old Sarah Bowker. She lives just a few miles from where April's body was found.

[Mike (Family Friend)]

I actually lived probably two miles from her apartment complex.

[Detective]

Sarah's body is found in a creek bed close to an apartment complex on the north side of Fort Wayne.

[Detective Clint Hetrick]

Both girls were approximately the same age. They both had been abducted, sexually assaulted, and then murdered and then left in a. In a remote location.

[Narrator]

There is one difference. April was found clothed. Sarah wasn't.

[Detective Clint Hetrick]

Given that they were so similar, police looked into if they were connected. Possibly we have the same person that committed both crimes. The FBI was brought in. They created a profile of what they believed the killer could be.

[Detective]

The FBI began poring over the evidence and quickly realized that the manner in which April's body was discovered and that of Sarah Bowker's did not appear to have the same trademarks.

[Detective Clint Hetrick]

And eventually it was determined through DNA. Actually that person that killed April was not the same person that killed Sarah Belker.

[Detective]

It was just a very, very horrible time in Fort Wayne, especially for these two young girls who were ultimately killed.

[Narrator]

With no new leads, the case of April Tinsley goes cold. But the people of Fort Wayne hadn't forgotten April.

[Janet Tinsley (April's Mother)]

You can't leave the house without somebody pointing at you, taking pictures of you.

[Mike (Family Friend)]

They were being harassed. If they went somewhere, people would point. There's that little girl's mom. It was a hard time for them.

[Janet Tinsley (April's Mother)]

Mike, he kind of had like a nervous breakdown. He was 34 years old when he had his first heart attack. And I kept saying, we're never gonna know who killed her. You know, is it ever gonna be silent?

[Narrator]

It's now March 25, 2004. Sixteen years after April is murdered.

[Detective]

A young girl in the Fort Wayne area was out playing. She was at her bicycle and discovered a note in the basket of her bicycle. Law enforcement was called by the family member of this young girl, and the note was provided to the police department.

[Detective Clint Hetrick]

Very shocking. Investigators had a mix of emotions. Is this really our killer that's leaving us another message, or is it somebody that's just messing with him? One of the biggest questions is, why now? Why 16 years after April's murder, 15.

[Detective]

Days later, a second note was found on a bicycle belonging to a young girl, also very similar in age and look to April Tinsley.

[Narrator]

The baskets contained more than just notes.

[Detective]

There were Polaroid pictures and used condom. They were very vulgar in graphic and sexual content.

[Detective Clint Hetrick]

Each note that's left, there were four found in total. Each note's addressed to the little girl. There's hi, honey. That they've been watching this little girl. One of the notes even says that if they don't see this on the news, that they will blow up the little girl's house.

[Janet Tinsley (April's Mother)]

At first I thought with all the clues and that he was leaving. I said, I hope they catch him before another child comes up missing and gets hurt.

[Detective]

The Polaroid photos depicted a gentleman from approximately the belly or waist down, with his penis exposed, sitting on a bedspread. This bedspread appeared to be that of a paisley pattern, maybe, maybe some blues and greens.

[Narrator]

Investigators think the bedspread resembles those from a cheap hotel.

[Detective]

Detectives canvassed all hotels and motels within about 100 mile radius of Fort Wayne. It scared law enforcement to think that this killer was still moving around. Who is this guy? No hotels were able to say that that was a familiar bedspread. Not much was gained from the bedspread.

[Detective Clint Hetrick]

He's basically taunting the police, saying, you can't catch me. I can do whatever I want. I will kill again.

[Narrator]

For 16 years, April's killer has gotten away with murder. Yet he may have just handed detectives the biggest clue of all.

[Detective]

In one of his letters, he left a quote unquote present. And that present the killer referred to was a used condom. By leaving this condom they were providing us a very large DNA sample.

[Detective Mark Heffelfinger]

Police tried to compare any DNA from the condom to the evidence that was found on the clothing of April Tinsley at the time of her death. The DNA came back indicating that this could possibly be the suspect, but it was not 100% because at the time, DNA was still in a growing process. The question was, whose DNA is this?

[Narrator]

Analysts run the sample through the FBI's DNA database of felons, but there's no match.

[Detective Clint Hetrick]

He thinks he's smarter than the police and he thinks he's not going to be caught.

[Narrator]

Two decades pass, and police are no closer to finding April's killer. Still, her mother never gives up hope.

[Janet Tinsley (April's Mother)]

We kept asking the police department, keep it in the media, keep it fresh. And they kept telling us that no, they can solve their own murder cases. They don't need no outside help.

[Narrator]

Desperate for answers, Janet Tansley reaches out for help of a different kind.

[Janet Tinsley (April's Mother)]

It's been a few years since the police department put anything out. I was sitting there, let me stir the pot. So I sent a email to John Walsh. We need like America's Most Wanted, the other crime shows that was on to get the story out there. We were hoping that it would trigger something.

[Narrator]

The segment leads to 50 new tips.

[Detective]

It drew a lot of national attention.

[Narrator]

Detectives go from having no suspects to having too many. In 2015, two new Fort Wayne detectives, Clint Hetrick and Brian Martin, take over the case.

[Detective]

With the advances in technology and the advances in science, our list of suspects had been whittled down to approximately 12 to 15 that would not provide a DNA sample to law enforcement.

[Narrator]

Detectives hope to use new technology to rule their possible suspects in or out.

[Detective]

Early 2018, we began seeing media attention in reference to how genetic genealogy was used to identify the killer. In the Golden State Killer case.

[Narrator]

Detective Martin wonders if a genetic lab called Parabon might be able to use the same technique to find April's killer.

[Detective]

I decided to just pick up the phone and call. What do I have to do to give you a sample? To try to figure out who killed.

[Narrator]

April Tinsley, Detective Martin gives Parabon a DNA sample collected from the condom.

[Detective]

Seven weeks after we submit our sample, I receive a telephone call. They said, we got you two possible brothers that are your killer and they're still alive.

[Detective Clint Hetrick]

Both of them were relatively close to the area, so we pulled their driver's license signatures. And one of the things we noticed was that one of the brothers signature was very similar to the notes left on the girls bikes.

[Detective]

One brother had some activity that we Felt was very suspicious and fit within a profile of somebody who would conduct a crime, an abduction, rape and murder.

[Narrator]

The suspect's name is John Miller.

[Detective]

To tell you that we're excited doesn't even begin to touch the feeling that we had. We were working a 30 year old homicide and we now had a very strong suspect.

[Detective Clint Hetrick]

I was almost able to relax and think, okay, this is finally over and now it's going to be closed. For April's family, they can move on.

[Narrator]

It's now July 2018, 30 years after April is murdered.

[Detective]

John Miller's residence was a trailer home in Greybull, Indiana.

[Detective Clint Hetrick]

We wanted to learn who John Miller was, what he did, where'd he work at. Within a couple hours of beginning surveillance, I got eyes on him for the first time. He came out of his trailer and he was actually cleaning the windows on his car. I was very surprised by his appearance. He was hunched over. I actually had to remind myself that this crime happened 30 years prior to. We learned that most of the time he went to work and came home and if he went anywhere it would be to a store or to his brother's house. He worked at Walmart, which is approximately 20 miles away from where he lived. Myself and another detective went in and plainclothes in Walmart and we found him working in the children's toy area. I found it very disturbing that he was near kids almost all day during his shift.

[Narrator]

Detectives need a sample of Miller's DNA to compare to the DNA found on April's body.

[Detective Clint Hetrick]

We decided in order to obtain his DNA, we were going to wait for trash day and for him to put his trash out to the curb that night. After his trash was placed out by the curb, we actually pulled John Miller's trash from the bin and drove to a garage at the Fort Wayne Police Department.

[Detective Mark Heffelfinger]

They brought it to me, we laid it out on the floor. I went through the bags of trash looking for anything that would possibly have his or more likely have DNA on it. Going through the bags, I found a used condom. It was just amazing. As I continued to dig, I found two more. I found a total of three used condoms in the trash. This was at 4 o' clock in the morning. And I immediately drove to Indianapolis to deliver them to our DNA Alice to to determine whether it was a match or was not a match or suspect. Two days later we got the results back.

[Detective Clint Hetrick]

It's a match of John Miller's DNA to our murderer's DNA from 1988.

[Detective Mark Heffelfinger]

John Miller was the person we had been looking for for all these years.

[Detective Clint Hetrick]

We decided that Detective Brian Martin and I were going to approach him when he got home from work on a Sunday morning outside of his trailer. As John Miller pulled up to his trailer, Detective Martin and I approached John Miller. We introduced ourselves and just told him that his name had come up in an investigation and asked him to come down to the Fort Wayne Police Department with us. And he was more than happy to do so.

[Detective]

So, John, we want to talk to you a little bit about a case that we've been working on for a while, and somebody brought your name up into this, and we wanted to kind of talk to you and see what you had to say about that. Do you have any idea what we need to talk to you about?

[Mike (Family Friend)]

I think Friday Tinsley case. That's the only one I can think of.

[Detective Clint Hetrick]

I kind of sat back in my seat and I was surprised that he had said her name.

[Detective]

What would make you say the Tinsley case?

[Detective Clint Hetrick]

He didn't want to come right out and tell us what happened. We had to talk to him for a while, ask him questions.

[Detective]

And what year did that happen?

[Mike (Family Friend)]

Do you remember April of 1988?

[Detective]

April of 88. Yep. Okay, so you know that the police have evidence in the case just to see just how much you know about it. So I know kind of what not to bore you with.

[Janet Tinsley (April's Mother)]

DNA.

[Detective]

Yeah, yeah, we have DNA. When we did that DNA, we were able to narrow it down. I just can't help but think that you probably had an idea maybe at some point something like this could happen.

[Mike (Family Friend)]

Can you.

[Detective]

Can you talk to me a little bit about how this accident happened and how this. What happened back in 88? Will you share that with me? I can't. Why can't? Yeah.

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[Detective Clint Hetrick]

I really didn't know what to expect going into the interview. We were hopeful for a full confession.

[Detective]

I think that this was probably an accident, John, and I'd like to. Can you just tell me how you can.

[Detective Clint Hetrick]

His demeanor changed a little bit in the interview. You could tell he became very nervous. He was having a hard time telling us what happened.

[Detective]

You've already admitted to this by the letters and the condoms that you left for us. You wrote the letters, you left the condoms, and you were like, gosh dang it, why can't these police figure out what the heck I'm trying to tell them here? Right?

[Mike (Family Friend)]

There was no nothing in the paper for a long three years.

[Detective]

You wanted to be like, hey, guys, get on the ball here.

[Mike (Family Friend)]

She. She was walking down the sidewalk.

[Detective Clint Hetrick]

Fire something.

[Mike (Family Friend)]

Nobody was around.

[Detective]

So you were driving around. You were looking for a little girl to pick up, weren't you, John?

[Mike (Family Friend)]

Yeah.

[Detective]

Yeah. Did you get out and grab her? Did you say something to her?

[Mike (Family Friend)]

I was already out standing by the car. She walked by.

[Detective]

So you knew you were gonna try and grab her. What'd she say when you grabbed her?

[Mike (Family Friend)]

Said, don't hurt me. I'll do whatever you say.

[Detective]

Okay, John. Before she died, how did that happen? Choked her. You choked her?

[Detective Clint Hetrick]

Why'd you choke her?

[Mike (Family Friend)]

As long as I cleaned up at.

[Detective]

The time, I was afraid she'd tell on you.

[Mike (Family Friend)]

Yeah.

[Detective Clint Hetrick]

It surprised me that somebody could do this and live with themself for 30 years and not tell anybody or not get it leaked to anybody of what they did.

[Janet Tinsley (April's Mother)]

Sunday afternoon, we were standing in my kitchen. I was talking to Mike, and I was looking out the window, and I seen three SUVs come in. A police cruiser and two black ones. It was the prosecutor, attorney. First thing, I looked out. Mike looked out, and they said, we got some news for you. They showed us a picture. Have you seen him around the neighborhood at any time? No. And they go, he worked at Walmart. That's all I kept saying is, okay, okay. It's like I was lost for words.

[Narrator]

Police tell Janet this is the man who killed April.

[Detective Clint Hetrick]

Prosecutor Karen Richards notified Janet that an arrest had been made in April's murder.

[Janet Tinsley (April's Mother)]

Okay, you got your suspect. They said, how do you feel about it being solved? And I was sitting there. I went through 30 years not knowing who killed her. And all of a sudden, you come to the house and tell me you. You got him. I said, it might take me a while for this to actually sink in. After they left, then you sit down and you have your crying spell. You're happy and you're crying. Finally, it's over.

[Narrator]

News of the arrest travels fast, and many in Fort Wayne call for the death penalty.

[Detective Mark Heffelfinger]

All it took was one kid to walk home one night without adult supervision, and that could have been victim number two.

[Narrator]

Janet also wants Miller put to death.

[Janet Tinsley (April's Mother)]

He took her life. I want his life. He don't deserve to be alive.

[Narrator]

On December 7, 2018, John goes to court for the murder of April Tinsley. Despite the DNA match and the confession, Miller pleads not guilty.

[Reporter (Angelica Robinson)]

They ended up reaching a plea deal. I covered a pretrial hearing, and when I saw John Miller walk in, it was chilling.

[Janet Tinsley (April's Mother)]

They kept telling me that it's the best deal. I said, no, I want a trial. They didn't want to go to trial because they didn't want us to live through all the stuff that went on through the case.

[Narrator]

Miller avoids the death penalty, but he's sentenced to 80 years at age 59. He'll spend the rest of his life in prison.

[Janet Tinsley (April's Mother)]

When we all was in the courtroom, he would never look at us. He would only look at the judge. Most of the time, he looked at the table.

[Narrator]

At sentencing, Janet finally confronts the man who killed her daughter.

[Janet Tinsley (April's Mother)]

I was the last person that got up there and spoke. I read my statement. I said, I want one question answered from you, but I know I will never get it. I want to know why. Why her? And the first words came out of his mouth was, he was bored.

[Narrator]

In 2015, the community of Fort Wayne builds a memorial to April Tinsley.

[Janet Tinsley (April's Mother)]

I come to April's garden three to four times a week. I'll sit for two, sometimes maybe three hours. There's usually a white butterfly comes and flies around. Everybody kept saying it was April flying around. It makes me happy to see the butterfly. When I feel down or I have a bad week, I'll come and sit on the bench and just sit here and talk to her. I'll say, april, mama misses you more and wishes you was here. In a way you know she's around somewhere.

[Narrator]

Sarah Bowker's case remains unsolved. Investigators continue to search for her killer.