REDDIT USER: r/UnresolvedMysteries
- cciunit13
- Nov 13, 2023
- 4 min read
Updated: Jun 23
CREDIT:REDDIT USER
r/UnresolvedMysteries
TheBonesOfAutumn
In 2002, 46-year-old Nancy Lyons disappeared after experiencing car trouble on her way home from a grocery trip in Rushville, Indiana. 4 months later her badly decomposed body was discovered in a field by a farmer. She had been beaten to death. With no leads or suspects, Nancy’s case is cold.
On June 17, 2002, 46-year-old Nancy Lyons disappeared. She was on her way home from a shopping trip at the local Walmart in nearby Rushville, where she’d gone to grab some groceries and medications from the local Rushville Pharmacy. A 3rd location she visited has never been disclosed.
But Nancy never made it home.
Nancy was reported missing by her sister after her car was found at the intersection of county roads 700W and 500N in Rush County. A man who lived nearby discovered the car, empty, still running, the trunk open, and a back tire gone flat.
The man called 911 and alerted police to the car parked off the shoulder. He told police he had walked around the vehicle to check if someone inside needed help, when he noticed a woman’s purse sitting on the front seat. He said he found the situation to be “odd,” so he called police.
Investigators reports say nothing in the car indicated a struggle had occurred. Nothing was taken from Nancy’s purse or vehicle. Her cell phone, cash, and recently purchased groceries along with Nancy's medication just purchased were found inside of the vehicle.
But Nancy was nowhere to be found.
Police informed Nancy’s sister, Debora Mitchell, they had found the vehicle abandoned, and she reported Nancy missing the following morning.
Her loved ones searched for her with no luck. Police and volunteers scoured the dense woods and nearby fields using cadaver dogs. They urged anyone who might have seen Nancy to come forward, but no one did.
Months went by with no clues as to Nancy’s whereabouts. Then, in October of 2002, a Bartholomew County farmer discovered the badly decomposed human remains in his soybean field. The remains were found roughly 40 to 50 miles from where Nancy’s car had been found.
It wasn’t long before they were identified as belonging to Nancy.
Medical experts determined she had been severely beaten. Her ultimate cause of death was listed as blunt force trauma to the head. It is not stated whether or not Nancy was sexually assaulted, but perhaps with the advanced state of decomposition she was found in, DNA couldn’t be gathered? (I’m honestly not sure how long DNA, such as semen, can stay behind, but if anyone knows I’d love to know the answer to this.)
Nancy’s sister says she was a free spirit. ”She loved to sing and dance, to stay up late talking, swapping stories with old friends and loved ones.”
Nancy was the middle child of eight and grew up in Marion, Indiana. But she never seemed to put down roots as an adult. She never married, never had children. She’d move from place to place, usually to be close to one of her siblings.
Wherever she stayed, she worked as a nanny, her longtime friend, Penny Jones, said. ”She wasn’t afraid to be a tough disciplinarian but never could quite follow through. She always followed a scolding with a trip to a candy store to get everyone a sugary peace offering.”
Nancy had been living in Carthage for about five years before she died. She moved there from north-central Indiana around 1999 to be close to her youngest sister, Debora Mitchell, and her husband, Rollin Mitchell, who had been living in Carthage and working for the little Wesleyan Church there.
Police say they will continue to search for information about Nancys killer. They’ve chased down leads that came in, but now they say, the phones’ have stopped ringing, tips have stopped coming in, and the case is cold.
Nancy’s younger sister, Beverly Tallent, says she will never stop looking for her sisters killer. She has dedicated countless hours, hired private detectives, and even gone to the FBI seeking their help. She said she has even sought the help of online sleuths to aid in her investigation. She wants everyone to know that ”No tip is too small, no theory is too wild.” She will listen to and read them all.
Sadly their father and mother passed away before they could see Nancys killer brought to justice.
Every year the family holds a candlelight service for Nancy. The family says each year the gathering gets smaller and smaller.
”Now, I wonder who will be the last one here,” Rollin Mitchell said. “Who will be the last one of us around trying to find out what happened to her?”
But Nancy’s sister Beverly says she knows the answer to that question.
”It’ll be me,” she said. ”I’ve got a job to do, and I can’t fail.”
Note: If you decide to google Nancy, don’t get her case confused with this case. Strangely enough it’s another cold case, this one out of Louisville, Kentucky, about a woman named Nancy Lyons who was murdered on her porch.
Comments