By: Bostyn Hillibush 

According to the Silver Alert put out by the Indiana State Police on June 7, the parents of Valerie Tindall reported her missing. She was last seen at midnight allegedly driving her car, a green 2000 Honda Accord. 

The Indiana Silver Alert system described Valerie Tindall as a 17 year old girl, 5 feet 6 inches tall, 162 pounds, brown hair with hazel eyes, and she was last seen wearing a light blue shirt, jean shorts, and a pair of sandals. She is from Arlington, Indiana, 47 miles southeast from Indianapolis. They believed that she was in great danger. 

They were right. The remains of Valerie Tindall were found on the property of a man named Patrick Scott. 

Patrick Scott was the neighbor of the Tindall family and they were close friends. Valerie Tindall even worked for him. He owned a lawn mowing business. The police report on Patrick Scott says that Tindall left her residence in her car and met up with Scott. Once they met up, he took her back to his home and they arrived at his residence around 12:59 pm. This is the last time she was seen alive.

Early in the investigation when Scott was interviewed, he had said that he had no idea where Tindall was that day. He initially told law enforcement that he had not seen her that day and that she did not work for him that day. When he was later confronted with evidence, he changed up his story. 

He told them that he drove Tindall to meet an unknown boy. He dropped her off and left. Then again he changed his story and said that he drove her back to his house and then he began to work and when he returned she was gone. He kept saying that he believes she ran away and then kept making references to her father’s abusive behaviors. 

On the November 28, the police found a body in his backyard while conducting a search at Scott’s house. They believed it was Tindall’s body but they needed to wait for the lab results to be sure.

After confirmation, the Rush County Sheriff’s Office said in an interview that Patrick Scott was arrested for the murder of Valerie Tindall. 

“It is not the outcome we hoped for but I want to stress to the public that this case is far from over. There is still much work to be done and our focus will now shift to successful prosecution of anyone who may be involved,” Rush County Officer Alan Rice said.