Two men charged in 1975 murder of 17-year-old girl in Indiana
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Two men have been arrested in the 1975 murder of 17-year-old Laurel Jean Mitchell, whose body was found in the Elkhart River in Noble County, Indiana, a day after she was reported missing.
Fred Bandy Jr., of Goshen, and John Wayne Lehman, of Auburn, both 67, were arrested Monday and charged with one count of murder, according to Indiana State Police.
"The much-needed break in the investigation came only within the last couple months, after Indiana State Police laboratory personnel were able to make an evidentiary correlation which lead investigators to the two suspects," police said in a statement.
Mitchell, who lived in North Webster, was reported missing on Aug. 6, 1975, after she left for work that morning at the Epworth Forrest Church camp on the north side of North Webster Lake in Kosciusko County, and never came home.
Her body was found the next day in the Elkhart River in the Mallard Roost Wetland Conservation Area in Noble County, police said. An autopsy determined she had drowned while fighting for her life.
"This case is a culmination of a decades-long investigation," Indiana State Police Capt. Kevin Smith said. "And science finally gave us the answers we needed. Playing a significant role in charges being filed was the Indiana State Police Laboratory Division. We simply could not have solved this case without them."
Police also thanked the public for providing "important information" that helped solve the case.
Bandy and Lehman were due to make their first court appearance Wednesday afternoon in Noble County.