Case Number 41-09295, Darlene Russell - Part one

Darlene Russell, 21, of Connersville, was brutally murdered on Sept. 20, 1981. Her body was found partially clothed with a fatal knife wound to her throat on Fayette County Line Road in Wayne County. Nearly 42 years later, Darlene's case remains unsolved and is cold case number 41-09295.

I began investigating Darlene's case roughly two years ago when her brother Gary Russell created a "Justice for Darlene Russell" Facebook page in hopes of finding answers and bringing renewed awareness to the tragic death of his sister. Since it has been over 40 years since his sister's death, beyond rumors, he had very little information and no official documents regarding his sister's murder.  

"The only thing I remember (about the murder) is the cops coming to our house telling my parents Darlene had been murdered," Gary recalled. "I was in a lot of shock; we all were. I was 10."

Gary is Darlene's youngest brother and one of her 11 siblings. He lived at the family's small home on Western Avenue in Connersville when his sister was beaten, murdered, and left in a desolate area, where she would remain for two days until a motorist passing by saw a pair of jeans hanging on a fence line, and upon further inspection, he found Darlene's partially clothed body on the other side of the fence line. 

With virtually no information beyond those grim details, Gary began his journey for justice by contacting the ISP Pendleton post to see where his sister's case stood and if there were any active leads. Roughly three weeks later, Gary received a return call from Detective McFeeders, the detective assigned to Darlene's case. McFeeders told Gary he would like to set up a time to meet. When they met, Gary inquired about the evidence gathered from the scene, such as the jeans hanging on the fence line and the clothes Darlene wore at the time of her death. With the advancements in forensic science, Gary was hopeful the evidence could be reexamined for DNA that could potentially lead to a suspect(s). "The day I met with him, he(McFeeders) said he was sure the evidence was there but couldn't say for sure," Gary said. 

Since meeting with Detective McFeeders and asking about potential DNA evidence, Gary has had little communication with McFeeders despite following up with phone calls. Although Darlene's case is cold, it is still considered ongoing. Therefore, police reports or information collected over the years are only released at the department's discretion, which declined to release any additional details to Gary or me, leaving us with only the information on the ISP website that states the following regarding the circumstances of Darlene's Case.

"On Sept. 22 at approximately 2:15 p.m., the body of Darlene Russell was discovered in an isolated rural area of southwestern Wayne County just across the Wayne/Fayette County line. Darlene Russell, a Connersville, Indiana resident, was last seen alive on Sept. 20, 1981, at 4:30 a.m., when she informed a family member she was going to hitchhike to Kentucky." 

In next week's edition, read about what family and friends said about the night she disappeared and why they were puzzled she would be hitchhiking.