IN IN - Ada Haradine, 39, Elkhart County, 8 May 1985

http://www.wndu.com/home/headlines/1985-cold-case-murder-reopened-207341131.html

"Ada was last seen working around the yard shortly after 3 PM. Another witness thought he seen her talking to a man near the house but when her son got off the school bus around 3:20 PM he was unable to locate his mother. Ada usually met her son as he got off the bus but was not there on that day. There were no signs of forced entry or of a struggle within the home. Numerous leads were followed-up on over the following years but there were no answers to her whereabouts until a couple of young mushroom hunters found her remains just off Birch Road north of US-12. Ada was identified by a wedding ring found with her remains and also by dental records. A forensic pathologist determined that she died from a massive skull fracture caused by a blow to the head."

http://www.wsbt.com/news/local/cold...ppearance-and-murder-of-ada-haradine/22309894
Kristin Bien
UPDATED Nov 11, 2013

rbbm.

"Ada left all her stuff behind and nothing was missing from the home or out of place. But there was one clue, earlier that day, Ada and her niece heard a noise from inside the house.

"The niece described the sound as being something strange. Just out of the ordinary. So much so they got up to take a look but they couldn't find anything," says Gizzi.

To this day, investigators think that noise was tied to her disappearance.

Police got hundreds of tips after Ada disappeared, some came from as far away as Las Vegas. Her family, obviously devastated, continued to look.

"It is hard when you are that age not to hold out hope that maybe someday she comes back to me," says Jeff.

Ada is Found...

"Right in this location here," says Gizzi as he walks us along a steep hillside, "down about 20 yards."

3 years after she disappeared, Ada's remains were found in rural Cass County. Mushroom hunters scouring an area off Birch road, north of U.S. 12, called police when they found bones along a steep hillside. Ada's wedding ring was found among her remains but police found no clothes or shoes. She had been beaten to death -- Her skull and jaw had been fractured.

"There was also, where she was found, a couple rocks about the size of your fist or a little bigger and conceivably the pathologist said, that could have been the item used to cause the blunt force trauma," says Gizzi.

Police aren't sure though. They don't know if Ada was killed along that hillside or if her body was dumped there after the murder. Gizzi believes that whoever killed Ada Haradine might have had a connection to that area -- to that hillside".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3lPyaRGnYc

"COLD CASE FILES: The mysterious disappearance and murder of Ada Haradine"


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXnlIfnI5is

"Published on May 1, 2014

Ada Haradine case freatured on Crimestoppers.

Do you have information about this case?

Submit a tip to Crime Stoppers.

http://www.michianacrimestoppers.com/"

2013
''It was exactly 28 years ago today -- May 8th, 1985 -- when 39-year-old Ada Haradine disappeared. The devout catholic and stay at home mother of two boys lived in one of the nicest neighborhoods in Elkhart -- It was also the last place she was seen alive. Her remains were discovered in rural Cass County three years later. She had been murdered''.

''Ada's sons say she was a devoted wife and mother -- she was quiet and kind. She stayed busy at the YMCA and at her church and she was always there for her children''

'' Oct 9, 2013
It was exactly 28 years ago today -- May 8th, 1985 -- when 39-year-old Ada Haradine disappeared. The devout catholic and stay at home mother of two boys lived in one of the nicest neighborhoods in Elkhart -- It was also the last place she was seen alive. Her remains were discovered in rural Cass County three years later. She had been murdered.''

@dotr I was local to this case when it happened. It was very big news. I didn't realize we had a case on Ada Haradine until I happened across this opinion of the Public Access Counselor:


A formal complaint was filed against Elkhart County Prosecutor Vicki Becker by investigative reporter, Nina Schutzman for allegedly violating APRA. She requested the following:
(snips)
Copies of public records related to Ada Haradine, who disappeared from her Elkhart home on May 8, 1985, and whose remains were found on May 12, 1988, in Cass County, MI. This includes but is not limited to: 1. Case file index 2. Incident reports 3. Investigative reports 4. Supplementary homicide reports 5. Witness and suspect statements 6. Media communications, inc. press releases 7. Any news or media footage that was saved or attached to this case file.

The next day, Elkhart County Prosecutor Vicki Becker denied Schutzman’s request. Prosecutor Becker asserted some of the requested records are investigatory records under APRA; and thus, are excepted from disclosure at the discretion of the agency. Additionally, the prosecutor indicated some of the requested records are covered by APRA’s exception for attorney work product.

It is no secret that APRA gives law enforcement agencies broad discretion to withhold certain public records. Even so, some agencies have increasingly wielded APRA as a cudgel against public access, in some cases to a comically unreasonable degree.

CONCLUSION Based on the foregoing, it is the opinion of this office that the Elkhart County Prosecutor revisit the request and determine if any portions of the file are disclosable under APRA consistent with this opinion.

Bumping this thread. I know someone out there knows something, and justice needs to be served for her family.