WANTED: Monster in Fort Wayne, Indiana
Thirty years ago this week, a little girl in Fort Wayne, Indiana, was abducted, sexually assaulted, murdered and now, forgotten by everyone. It is one of the most horrific crimes we’ve ever researched, and yet when we ask people if they know about April Tinsley, we only get blank stares. This man, who police believed was local, not only committed the crime, but taunted police and the community for 16 years after. He could still be walking among us – you could very well know him.
This is April Marie Tinsley, who was abducted on April 1, 1988, from her neighborhood in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
This is the full note police found in 2004 alone with the killer’s DNA in a used condom.
Above is the “m” and the start of another letter that we talked about in the episode. It looks to us like the start of an “a” based on the other As in his other letters.
Here is the sex toy that police found in a Sears shopping bag near April’s body in 1988. This information was not released until 2012 on America’s Most Wanted.
MBased on the Parabon Snapshot done using the killer’s DNA, this is what he could have looked like in 1988 and 2016.onsterofFtWayne_SuspectSketch
Please contact the authorities If you have any information about the case:
Please go to April’s Facebook page to show your support for the family.
IF YOU KNOW ANYTHING – PLEASE CONTACT FORT WAYNE POLICE OR CRIME STOPPERS IN FORT WAYNE.
Phone: 1-260-427-1404
Email: [email protected]
Or contact Crime Stoppers:
(260) 436-STOP or
1-800-237-STOP
or provide a tip online.
We’d love to speak with you and see how we can support.
If you’re a law enforcement agency or family member of one of the people we mentioned in this episode, or if you’re looking for more coverage on a case, please reach out. You can email us at:
Episode Source Material
- Interview with Janet Tinsley conducted by Ashley Flowers October 2017
- FBI – Cold Case Heats Up
- FBI – Profile of a Killer
- Sarah Bowker – Hensley named as perpetrator after his death
- Find a Grave – Sarah Jean Bowker
Suggested Episodes
WANTED: Justice for Rhys Pocan & MMIW Part 2
In 2021, we set out to cover the case of Rhys Pocan, a 35-year-old Indigenous woman who was murdered in Wisconsin in the ‘80s. In Part 2, we look into cases of two other female dismemberment victims in Wisconsin with striking similarities to Rhys Pocan’s.
WANTED: Justice for Rhys Pocan & MMIW Part 1
In 2021, we set out to cover the case of Rhys Pocan, a 35-year-old Indigenous woman who was murdered in Wisconsin in the ‘80s. But while we were in the field, we uncovered a disturbing pattern of murders with similarities to Rhys’ that were just too blatant to ignore. So, we spent the next three years working with local and federal law enforcement to try and get to the bottom of it.
WANTED: The Keddie Cabin Killer
A family’s brutal murder rocks a tiny California town and leaves behind too many unanswered questions.
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