Osborne
On Aug. 20, 1973, a Crothersville woman headed to a bakery in Seymour to pick up baked goods for a meeting at Rose Acre Farms in Cortland.
Teresa Osborne never made it back to that meeting.
The next morning, the 18-year-old’s mother went to her room and found it empty. She called police, and the search for Teresa began.
Police immediately ruled Osborne’s death foul play.
On Aug. 31, 1973, two employees of Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge found a vehicle matching the description of Osborne’s white, four-door 1965 Ford in a heavily wooded area in the southern part of the refuge.
Police were called to the refuge, located east of Seymour, and found badly burned remains inside the trunk after prying it open. The remains were later identified as those of Osborne, but a cause of death could not be determined.
The Indiana State Police investigated Osborne’s murder, and the FBI also was involved because her body had been found on federal property.
Her killer or killers have never been found even after local residents and businesses offered a $3,000 reward.
The case was examined in-depth during a recent meeting of the Jackson County Public Library’s True Crime Club.
Tiffany York, information services coordinator at the Seymour Library, led the discussion. She said one hope for the club, which has met several times in the past, is that the discussion of cold cases may lead to new information becoming available.
The discussion of Osborne’s disappearance and murder during the recent meeting at the Seymour Library produced a couple of theories from the 20 or so people in attendance.
Osborne, who was employed in the accounts receivable department at Rose Acre Farms, arrived at the bakery and signed for the baked goods and left.
Multiple people were questioned, including her high school sweetheart, friends, classmates, teachers and fellow employees. All agreed Osborne was not the type to “run off,” and no one could think of any reason for her disappearance.
Seymour resident Paul Jewett, a state police technician who collected evidence at the murder scene, attended the meeting.
He said state police investigators have called him back two or three times in recent years to go over the case.
“Actually, in just the past two or three years, there was an individual here in Seymour who had told his wife he did this, but it was protected conversation while they were married. Well, he died,” Jewett said. “Of course, we were all over that. Then she said, ‘Not really,’ so that’s that.”
He said shortly after Osborne was murdered, a man came forward and wanted to admit to killing her.
“He was interrogated at length,” Jewett said.
The man was interviewed so many times that he had started putting together a pretty good story, Jewett said.
That man, however, later went to jail for another crime and spent some time there, and when he got out, he jumped into the White River and drowned, Jewett said.
“So there goes that guy,” he said. “This case is just full of pitfalls.”
He said it has always been his opinion someone killed Osborne to send a message to someone else — perhaps her employer.
He also said her murder will likely go unsolved unless someone makes a deathbed confession.
York said she was pleased Jewett was in attendance because previous attempts to bring investigators involved in cold cases to talk have failed.
York later told The Tribune the idea for the club came about when she and former library employee Hillary Pacheco organized the first meeting in January. That meeting focused on a missing Connersville girl, but evaluations from the meeting showed attendees want to take a look at local cold cases, York said.
So the next meeting examined the unsolved murder of 33-year-old Keyla Weddel, who was found dead in her mobile home in Medora on Aug. 18, 1988.
“It has really taken off in popularity and is my most attended program with up to 30 people registering for each event, both in person and on Zoom,” York said.
“We have coffee available, and each person gets their own case file to follow along as I discuss the timeline and facts of the case,” she said. “Then I turn it over to the group, and we begin discussing our theories and posing questions. Sadly, we don’t solve the cases, but it does bring to the forefront a case that may have been forgotten or even unheard of by those in the community.”
Other unsolved murders will be examined during club meetings from 5 to 6 p.m. July 31 and Aug. 28. The club will then start meeting every other month.
Anyone who would like to attend a future club meeting may visit myjclibrary.org.