GUILTY IN - Dani Reed, 65, robbed & murdered, Elkhart, 7 Nov 2005

ELKHART -- Elkhart police are investigating the death of a local woman and the theft of her vehicle.

At 4:57 p.m. Monday, officers responded to a call at 107 S. Riverside Drive, according to an Elkhart Police Department announcement.

Police said that when officers arrived, they found the victim, Dani Reed, 65, of that address, in the home, and her vehicle was missing.

The vehicle is described as a red 2001 Pontiac Aztec, with Indiana license plate 20E9076.

"Anyone having contact with the vehicle should consider the occupant armed and dangerous. Do not approach," according to the police statement. "Contact your local law enforcement office."

Anyone with information about the incident or the missing vehicle should call the Elkhart Police Department homicide unit at 295-7076 or the homicide tip line at 389-4770.

More: http://www.etruth.com/News/Content.aspx?ID=360207&page=

Elkhart, IN - Police have located a missing vehicle that belonged to a woman whose body was found Monday in Elkhart.

Just before 5 PM on Monday police responded to a call in the 100 block of South Riverside Drive.

There police found the body of 65-year-old Dani Reed and say her SUV had been taken.

Now police say they have located Reed's missing SUV and the person of interest who was driving the car.

More: http://www.wndu.com/news/112005/news_45823.php

ELKHART, Ind. -- A boarding house resident strangled his 65-year-old neighbor and drove her SUV to a convenience store, which he robbed at gunpoint, police said.

Police on Tuesday preliminarily charged Jeremy Allen Ratliff, 26, with homicide in the death of Dani Reed, said Elkhart Detective Sgt. Bill Wargo. Ratliff also is facing an armed robbery charge.
Employees at the Corner Stop told police that Ratliff, a regular customer, entered the store Monday and pointed a handgun at the cashier, demanding money. Police determined the robbery happened about half-hour after Reed's husband found her body in their home.

A witness saw Ratliff leave the store in an SUV that looked like Dani Reed's, said Patrolman Scott Hauser.
Mike Reed had reported that his wife's SUV was missing. Police later found it outside an apartment complex, and officers saw Ratliff get in the vehicle and drive away, Wargo said. When police attempted to pull him over, he sped off, police said. He eventually stopped the car and ran away, but police found Ratliff hiding in some bushes and arrested him.

Ratliff gave officers details of the homicide and robbery, Wargo said, and police learned Dani Reed died by strangulation.

"Dani was such a wonderful, sweet person," said Karen Johnson, another neighbor and friend of the Reeds. "She would help anyone she could ... she believed there was good in anybody."

Ratliff was one of the people Dani tried to help, her friends says. Johnson said her neighbor told her Ratliff needed cash soon or he would be evicted from the boarding house.
More: http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051109/NEWS01/511090503/-1/RSS

Neighbor accused of killing Reed[font=arial,verdana,helvetica,sans-serif]
ELKHART -- A man who lived next door in a boarding house is suspected by police of strangling his neighbor, Dani Reed, 65, a woman known for her kindness to others.

Jeremy Allen Ratliff, 26, was arrested Tuesday on preliminary charges of homicide and armed robbery, said Detective Sgt. Bill Wargo of the Elkhart Police Department. He was taken into custody at 5:35 a.m. after fleeing police first in a sport utility vehicle belonging to the victim and then on foot.
About a half hour before Dani's body was found, Ratliff is believed to have robbed a convenience store. Employees at the Corner Stop, 600 W. Marion St., told police that Ratliff, a regular customer, entered the store at about 4:35 p.m. Monday and started to buy cigarettes, then pointed a handgun at the cashier and demanded money. A witness saw the man leave the store and flee the area in a maroon Pontiac Aztek which looked like Dani Reed's, said Patrolman Scott Hauser.

A break in the case came when police found the vehicle outside an apartment complex south of the city early Tuesday. Wargo said officers saw Ratliff get in the vehicle and drive away. When they attempted to pull him over, he sped off, police said. He eventually stopped, got out of the Aztek and ran away. Police found him hiding in some bushes and arrested him at 5:35 a.m. at a residence on Sunrise Drive.

More: http://www.etruth.com/News/Content.aspx?ID=360275&page=
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From August 2006:

http://articles.southbendtribune.com/2006-08-17/news/26959348_1_convenience-store-robbery-reedy

Jeremy Ratliff was sentenced to 85 years today for murdering his next-door neighbor and then stealing her car, which he used in an armed robbery of a convenience store in November.

Elkhart Circuit Court Judge Terry Shewmaker sentenced Ratliff to 65 years for murdering 65-year-old Dani Reed and 20 years for the armed robbery. Ratliff had pleaded guilty to the crimes in June.

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