The 66-year-old man convicted of the 1988 abduction, sexual assault and murder of a Fort Wayne girl has died.
According to 21Alive News reports on Thursday, John D. Miller died earlier at an Indianapolis hospital.
Miller was serving an 80-year prison sentence for killing 8-year-old April Tinsley in the spring of 1988.
In spite of local, state, and federal efforts to solve the case, Miller remained unknown to law enforcement until the use of genetic genealogy helped identify a potential suspect profile.
Miller’s brother was identified as related to the then-unknown suspect, and investigators identified Miller himself via DNA taken from trash outside of his home in 2018.
He confessed to police when confronted and later pleaded guilty to charges of murder and child molesting. Allen Superior Judge John Surbeck sentenced Miller to 80 years in prison.
According to the Indiana Department of Correction, Miller was most recently housed in the New Castle Correctional Annex.
