Thursday, April 11, 2013

Katelyn Markham's Remains Found








The investigation into the disappearance of a Fairfield woman enters a new phase.Indiana State Police said remains found in Franklin County, Indiana on Sunday are those of 21-year-old Katelyn Markham.
The location where the remains were found is about 40 minutes drive from her condo.
Markham was reported missing in August of 2011.
Since her disappearance, thousands of people have spent countless hours looking for Markham.
One of those groups was Texas Equusearch.
"It's what I consider to be the worst case of hide and go seek that you could ever play. How could one or two individuals know where they put somebody but 500 to 1000 people can't find that one piece? So it's very difficult. It's very taxing," said David Rader, Director of the Ohio Chapter of Texas Equusearch.
The Ohio Chapter was created after Markham disappeared.

Katelyn Markham
Katelyn Markham
Story filed earlier on Wednesday, April 10th, 2013

The father of a missing student now waits for DNA tests on a skeleton found in rural Indiana. Those remains are now at the Hamilton County coroner's office for testing.

Katelyn Markham's DNA profile is already in a database. Her father has been told the DNA profile from the skeleton found over the weekend will be compared with his daughter's.

Local 12's Deborah Dixon talked with him today.

The skeleton was found at an unofficial dump site near a creek in Cedar Grove, Indiana which about 40 miles from where Katelyn Markham disappeared from her Fairfield condo. The 22 year old art student really did disappear in August 2011 leaving her car, purse, clothes and dreams behind. Katelyn's father Dave Markham explains she even left behind her sketch book. "She was never without it," says Dave.

The skeleton and the talk of DNA profiles leaves many wondering if the search is over. Her father explains the desire for closure. "But you don't you hope she walks through the door tomorrow, you think is it possible?" says Dave.

Forensic scientists will be the ones to tell if the remains are Katelyn's. Extracting DNA from skeletons is more involved than getting the evidence-rich cells from blood, sweat or tears. Dental records may be examined and a forensic anthropologist may examine the bones for evidence of a crime.

It's what Dave Markham is not being told that bothers him. If the teeth on the skull are straight it's not Katelyn. You can see the crooked incisor in photos and if the leg bones belong to someone six feet tall it can't be his five foot three inch daughter. Dave says "Not getting these definite no's makes you wonder more is it possibly her."

If it is, there is something more important to Dave, than just how she got there. "That's not as important as bringing her home," says Dave.

Markham shares the agony of not knowing with other parents. 28 year old Billy DiSilvestro disappeared from Hamilton in June 2011. Indiana University student Lynn Spierer was last seen walking home alone after partying with friends on a June night the same year.

For now the Franklin County Indiana coroner isn't saying if the bones belong to a man or a woman. So it could be none of the above.

The database that compares unidentified dead in America with missing persons estimates there are 40,000 unidentified dead in this country. So the skeleton doesn't have to be someone from the Tri-State.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Deborah Dixon. Bad interviewer. Sometimes I wonder how much (if any) training some of these news reporters had prior to having a mic stuck in their hand and a camera in their face; yet manage to hold onto their job for years (like Deborah Dixon whose been there for years) while they keep wondering why they never make it into the national market; where I might add, some others are just as bad.

Anonymous said...

above posted by Anon 1.

me said...

I'm confused. Has she been identified or not?

S + K Mum said...

Yes the remains are Katelyns. An article published after the remains were found but before they were identified was then added to the blog.

QChick said...

News article posted an hour ago...although there are also other articles posted 10-12 hrs ago confirming the remains, just google search.

http://www.whiotv.com/news/news/remains-found-in-indiana-idd-as-missing-fairfield-/nXJW8/


CEDAR GROVE, Ind. —
The skeletal remains of missing Fairfield person Katelyn Markham have been found in Cedar Grove, Ind., Fairfield Police Chief Mike Dickey told the Hamilton JournalNews.

Markham was reported missing on Aug. 14, 2011, from her Fairfield residence.

Cedar Grove, Ind., is approximately 30 miles west of Fairfield.

Police used dental records to determine that the remains found in Indiana were Markham’s, Dickey said.

“We are working with (Indiana State Police) on a joint investigation to find out what occurred,” Dickey said Wednesday evening.

When asked how he felt upon confirmation that the remains were Markham’s, Dickey said, “Of course her family and investigators always had hope that she was still alive. But we were realistic.”

A missing person’s report was filed after Markham did not show up for work Aug. 14, 2011, at David’s Bridal near Tri-County Mall. Markham left her car, her keys, her dog, and all her personal belongings with the exception of her cell phone at her Dorshire Drive residence.

Her cell phone was turned off around 12:45 a.m. on Aug. 14. The GPS device on her phone was also turned off.

In June 2012, a lead appeared to materialize with the arrest of Gurpreet Kang, 26, who was a suspect in an unrelated sexual assault case in Oxford. Kang worked in a gas station near Markham’s residence.

Karyn Winkler, the mother of Markham’s fiance, John Carter, said at the time she felt like this was the first substantial information in the case since Katelyn disappeared. However, by August 2012, police had cleared Kang of any connection to the Markham case.

Texas Equusearch, a search and recovery non-profit based in Texas, conducted two four-day searches in 2011 for Markham involving dozens of searchers.

me said...

Thank you S & K and QChick. I was wondering how she was identified so quickly vs Hailey. That answers my question.

Sad. I hope Ohio police are better than some we've encountered lately.

Bless Texas Equusearch for bringing this beautiful young lady back to her family.

Unknown said...

@"me"???

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Katelyn was found in a makeshift dump site by men who were looking for scrap metal. The site is at Cedar Grove/Big Cedar Creek, Indiana, at a place between her fiance's father's residence at the time of the disappearance (Ross, Ohio) and the site of new land his father and stepmother were clearing the weekend Katelyn disappeared (Laurel, Indiana). A new article appeared every couple of hours today. John provided this statement over the phone (you guys can have a field day; it's all about him, still):

"I miss Katelyn very much. She meant everything to me and losing someone like that can really destroy your life, and I did everything I could to get a life back, and I started going to school, back to work, starting to form new friendships and starting to actually have something of a life after being so violently taken from me, and now I just want to grieve and want to be, figure out how to deal with this. I don't know how to deal with this. I have never lost someone close to me."

Now the investigation is being started anew, with Indiana authorities assisting Fairfield.

Unknown said...

How did John know Katelyn was "...so violently taken from me..." as he gradually went through the process of getting his life back? We just discovered her remains, and there hasn't been any cause of death determined. I guess an accidental overdose is out of the question, huh?