Ceremony Held Honoring Victim Killed Forty Years Ago Today
Summitville – Tonight shortly before 6 p.m. members of the Joe and Dianne Wylie family met up with ten troopers, including Indiana State Police Superintendent Doug Carter, at the Vinson Cemetery just south of Summitville. The group gathered to honor the memory of nineteen year old Kathy Jo Wiley, who was kidnapped and killed on this date 40 years ago.
Kathy Jo was kidnapped at her grandmother’s store, in Summitville, on this date in 1974 by two men, Charles Martin and Lester French, who were robbing the store. The two men murdered Kathy Jo Wiley leaving her body in the White River. Indiana State Police Investigator, (now retired,) Bill McCallister and then Trooper Dick Stout worked the case.
Because of their work on the case French and Martin were both convicted and spent the rest of their lives in prison, with Martin passing away in prison in 2004 and French just last year. Today’s ceremony was to honor the life of Kathy Jo Wiley.
Speakers today included Kathy Jo Wiley’s mother, Dianne; her last surviving sister and sibling, Kim; retired ISP Investigator Bill McCallister who remembered the facts of the case; Indiana State Police Superintendent Doug Carter, along with other family members and friends that remembered Kathy Jo and told stories about her life.
The ceremony was ended with a balloon release in memory of Kathy Jo Wiley’s life. Dianne Wiley, Kathy Jo’s mother, thanked those in attendance, said that she hoped this would “finally bring some closure to the family.”She went on to say that because of the terrible events of that day, she and her family would “always be grateful, and feel a part of the Indiana State Police.”
The first attached photo is of Kathy Jo Wiley; The second attached photo is of Kathy Jo Wiley's mother Dianne, taken today at the ceremony.
Address/Location
Indiana State Police-Pendleton District 51-Pendleton, IN
9022 Indiana 67
Pendleton, IN 46064
Contact
Emergency: 9-1-1
Non-emergencies: 765-778-2121
John Bowling
Public Information Sergeant, Pendleton District 51
[email protected]
765-778-2121