A mother’s murder, a case unsolved for 50 years, has finally reached a resolution.
In recent years, several cold cases have been concluded, providing long-awaited closure to families affected by such tragedies. One such case involves a mother, found dead beside the road in Indiana, with her unharmed three-year-old daughter by her side.
On July 7, 1972, Phyllis Bailer and her daughter set out from Indianapolis, heading for Bluffton to visit family. Unfortunately, they never arrived at their destination.
The Indiana State Police reported that by 10:30 a.m. the next morning, Bailer’s vehicle was discovered in Grant County, Indiana, with no sign of her or her child.
Tragically, only an hour later, a passerby discovered Bailer’s body and her daughter in a ditch in Allen County. Reports indicated that Bailer had been sexually assaulted and shot, yet her daughter was unharmed.
Despite having a suspect, arrests were not made at the time. A partial DNA profile from Bailer’s clothing dismissed the primary suspect, leaving investigators without leads for decades.
The case seemed destined to remain unsolved until last year when police announced a breakthrough. A stronger DNA profile was developed from Bailer’s clothing, leading them to collaborate with Identifinders International, a forensic genealogy company based in California and founded by Colleen Fitzpatrick.
Fitzpatrick commented: “Identifinders is proud to have supported the Indiana State Police with bringing long overdue answers to Phyllis and her family. This case is an example of still another homicide that would never have been solved without Forensic Genetic Genealogy.”
This advanced method allows for unknown DNA to be matched with potential family members of suspects, who have voluntarily provided their DNA to a database.
Through this technology, police identified Fred Allen Lienemann as the individual whose DNA was found on Bailer’s clothing.
During an announcement on Wednesday, April 16, officials confirmed: “Phyllis Bailer never made it to Bluffton to visit her family.”
State police spokesperson Sgt. Wes Rowlader expressed on social media: “After years of questions, this family finally has answers about what happened to her.”
Lienemann, 25 years old at the time of the murder, had no known ties to Bailer but possessed a notable criminal record.
Though Lienemann was killed in Detroit in 1985, police clarified that had he been alive, he would face charges for Bailer’s murder. Official records indicated that two men were accused of brutally attacking Lienemann and disposing of his body in a dumpster, setting it ablaze while he was still alive.