Sick, twisted taunts haunted Fort Wayne until arrest was made in April Tinsley murder

Holly V. Hays
IndyStar

Hi honey. I been watching you.

Crystal Higgs couldn’t believe what she was reading.

Family friends were enjoying brunch at her Grabill, Ind., home over the 2004 Memorial Day weekend when her 7-year-old daughter, Emylee, handed over a plastic bag she had found in the basket of her pink bicycle.

In the bag was a note.

I am the same person that kidnapped, raped and killed April Tinsley. You are my next victim.

Enclosed with the note was a used condom.

This had to be a sick joke, Higgs thought. A friend of her teen son must have put it there. It couldn’t be serious.

Higgs didn’t recognize the name scrawled in childlike handwriting. The family had moved into their home in Grabill, about 16 miles north of Fort Wayne, 11 years after the 8-year-old's 1988 murder.

Solved! DNA linked conclusively to her murderer, and he confessed.

Suspect arrested, charged with murder of April Tinsley

July 17, 2018
10:06 pm Jacob Burbrink

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WPTA 21) –

More than 30 years after the killing, a Grabill man was taken into custody and charged with the murder of 8-year-old April Tinsley.

The Allen County Prosecutor’s Office announced the major development Sunday afternoon — hours before the premiere of an Investigation Discovery examination of the region’s most haunting unsolved case.

Contributor: tiggershadow2 - jlsmith1030@gmail.com

• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Jun 17 2020, 4:14:21 UTC