Teresa Tinsley, April’s aunt, told the newspaper, “I just wanted to get up and go over and slap him one.” She added, “I expected a monster, which is exactly what I (have) seen.”She was joined in court by her daughter and her niece’s husband, and they wore shirts with “Never Forgotten, Always Remembered” on the front and “April Marie Tinsley 1980-1988” on the back, according to the newspaper. When the Indiana State Police went to John D. Miller’s mobile home in Grabill, Indiana, on July 15, detectives asked him if he had any idea why the police wanted to talk to him, according to court documentsThe detectives told Miller that he was correct and said they had a match of his DNA profile to the DNA evidence left on April Tinsley’s body, according to the court documents.
On July 6, police covertly searched Miller’s trash in an effort to find any loose items with his DNA on them, according to the affidavit.
Miller was taken to the Fort Wayne Police Department to be interviewed about the case. The condoms and notes were left on young girl’s bicycles and in a mailbox, with taunts telling them they would be the next victims, along with photos showing the nude lower half of a man, police said. Additional funds were established for Tinsley's burial and her family.The early police investigation led authorities to a 34-year-old suspect, who was charged with child molestation in a separate case, but was acquitted of those charges the next month.Soon after the murder, police released a composite sketch of the suspect based on the account of a person who said they saw Tinsley's kidnapper.In May 2018, a Fort Wayne Police Department detective sent a sample of the suspect's DNA to the forensics company Detectives approached Miller at his house on July 15, 2018, and asked him to come to talk with them at the police office. I would have never known. Teresa Tinsley said April’s parents were too upset to attend, but plan on being at future hearings. Police said that when the detectives asked him to explain what happened to Tinsley, he replied, “I can’t.” He then admitted to the killing her, telling the detectives he had abducted Tinsley from Hoagland Street in Fort Wayne on April 1 and then took her to his trailer on Main Street in Grabill, according to the court documents.
You are my next victim.”“A DNA profile was developed from the abandoned condoms and it was determined to be consistent with the profile developed from the underwear of April M Tinsley,” police said in an affidavit.According to the affidavit, the DNA testing conducted in 2018 confirmed that the DNA left behind in the condoms used to taunt investigators and Tinsley’s family was a match to DNA recovered from condoms found in Miller’s trash.Little is known about John D. Miller. Neighbors Emily Almond, a local resident, said she is now wondering whether she ever crossed paths with Miller, telling the newspaper, “It’s almost horrifying he was here.” Another Grabill resident, Dawn Muller, told the newspaper, the situation is “very concerning.” The newspaper reports a passerby said near the mobile home, “It can’t be happening in the little town of Grabill, can it?”“I would drive every morning from work and I would see him get out of his car, and I couldn’t imagine that it would even be him. Miller said he killed Tinsley after raping her because he did not want her to report him to police.Miller also told police that he drove by the area where he dumped the body when he did not see it on the news, according to the police report. Miller, of Grabill, Indiana, was arrested July 15 on charges of murder, child molesting and confinement, The search for Tinsley’s killer has gone on for more than 30 years and has attracted nationwide attention. He has lived by himself at the home in Grabill for several years, according to local news reports. John D. Miller, April Tinsley Suspect: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know April Marie Tinsley (March 18, 1980 – April 1, 1988) was a child from
We’re still in shock that this happened and that none of us knew about it.”The Bud Meeks Justice Center will play host to John D Miller’s pretrial conference this morning. If not for DNA, I’m not sure they would have gotten him,” Teresa Tinsley told the News-Sentinel. After the hearing, prosecutors will have 3 days to press formal charges John D. Miller appeared in court for the first time on July 16, 2018, and an Allen County judge found probable cause for his arrest, April Tinsley’s parents were not at court, but other family members were. I don’t know what to think. It has been featured on crime TV shows ranging from The case has been investigated by the Indiana State Police, the Fort Wayne Police Department, the Allen County Sheriff’s Department, the FBI and other local police agencies over the years. According to court documents, Indiana State Police Detective Brian Martin arranged for genetic testing to be done on the Tinsley evidence by The testing company worked with genealogist CeCe Moore, who has assisted in several high profile cold cases that have been solved in 2018, and narrowed the suspect down to John D. Miller and Miller’s brother. "Officials charged him with murder, child molestation, and confinement, and he pleaded not guilty in a court hearing on July 19, 2018.April Tinsley's mother held a balloon launch at April's Garden on April 4, 2018. Anyone with information is asked to call 1-800-CRIME-TV.Dozens of messages are written on the sidewalks by April Tinsley's memorial garden at Masterson and Hoagland avenues in Fort Wayne.