TERRE HAUTE —
The search for clues in the still-unsolved homicide of Lowell Badger, a retired Sullivan County farmer who was shot in his home a week ago, was a full-blown community effort Friday.
More than 100 people, mostly neighbors and family of Badger’s, gathered at his unassuming two-story farmhouse west of Graysville for a police-organized search of the vast and mostly wide-open farmland nearby.
Police sent volunteer searchers out in teams of six to eight people to comb the roadsides across a two-square-mile area. Sullivan County Sheriff Bryan Kinnett asked them to report anything that might have come from inside the Badger home, including weapons, electronic devices or documents.
Within a short time, they started reporting items to police.
“It may not be anything, but we have to tell them what we see,” said volunteer searcher Randy Nichols as he stood over a blue surgical glove he found along a roadway about a mile north of the scene of the crime. A sheriff’s deputy soon collected the glove in a plastic evidence bag and took it back to the driveway of the Badger home, which was serving as the search headquarters.
Meanwhile, about a half-mile to the south and east of the Badger home, Larry Arnett discovered a butter knife lying in roadside gravel. The knife appeared as if it were recently dropped and was soon collected as potential evidence.
In all, searchers reported about 20 items to police during the roughly three-hour search, said Sgt. Joe Watts of the Indiana State Police, who was one of the organizers of the effort. Those items will be examined and, if found to be significant, sent to a police lab, he said.
“It was a good day,” Watts said at the conclusion of the search. “We covered all the area we wanted to cover.”
The large number of volunteers shows the community’s respect for the Badger family, Watts said. It also shows that people are willing to help when tragedy strikes.
Badger, 85, was discovered shot to death in his isolated farmhouse last Saturday morning about 9 a.m. Police believe the shooting took place in the 13 hours before Badger’s body was discovered.
A 46-inch Sony flat screen television was reportedly taken at the same time of the shooting.
Apart from potential evidence uncovered in Friday’s search, other new leads in the case were reported to police on Friday, Watts said. “People are talking,” he said. “We want them to keep talking.”
Several area organizations, individuals and businesses have joined forces to offer a $25,000 reward for anyone providing information leading to an arrest and conviction in the case.
“This is a close-knit community,” said Susan Burton, who was searching a roadway and bridge near the Badger home. Her son, Solly, meanwhile, was wading in a creek below the bridge, looking into the shallow water for anything that could help police. “We’ve lost our innocence with this,” she said.
Anyone with information about this case is asked to contact the Putnamville State Police Post at (765) 653-4114. Tips may remain anonymous. Tips may also be reported to Wabash Valley Crime Stoppers at (812) 238-STOP (7867) or 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) on online at www.wvcrimestoppers.org.
Reporter Arthur Foulkes can be reached at (812) 231-4232 or arthur.foulkes@tribstar.com.
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Related Photos
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After anything: Melissa Corrigan, second from right, shows an object she found to her family members as they search along the road near her great uncle Lowell Badger's home Friday in Sullivan County west of Graysville. (Tribune-Star/Joseph C. Garza)
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Tribune-Star/Joseph C. Garza Searching high and low: Robin Corrigan looks through a patch of weeds for evidence during a search Friday near Lowell Badger's home in Sullivan County.
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Tribune-Star/Joseph C. Garza Technology at work: Volunteer James Watts uses his phone to take a photo of a map and the area he and fellow volunteers would be searching Friday at Lowell Badger's home in Sullivan County. At right is Sullivan County Sheriff's Deputy Brad Miller.
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Tribune-Star/Joseph C. Garza Volunteer and friend: Mary Arnett, a friend of the late Lowell Badger, signs in with the Sullivan County Sheriff's Department before the start of a search Friday at Badger's home in Sullivan County.
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Tribune-Star/Joseph C. Garza Consolation: Besides a great turnout by volunteers to search for evidence, support and consolation were also shown for the loss of Lowell Badger Friday at his home in Sullivan County.
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Tribune-Star/Joseph C. Garza Asking for divine guidance: Father Frank Renner, second from right, of St. Mary's Church in Sullivan offers a prayer before the start of a search for evidence at the Lowell Badger home Friday in Sullivan County.
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Tribune-Star/Joseph C. Garza No stone unturned: Volunteers Randy Pigg and Terry Nash, both of Sullivan, search along the side of County Road 1025 West near Lowell Badger's home in Sullivan County on Friday.
Discussion
No stone unturned: Search party digs for evidence at site of suspected homicide in Sullivan County
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