136 replies to this topic

[Kelly]

http://www.indystar....s|img|FRONTPAGE

Suspect ordered to pay damages in disappearance
No charges have been filed in case of Molly Dattilo

1:06 AM, Nov 17, 2010



The family of a woman who has been missing for more than six years earned a small victory in court this week.

A Marion Superior Court judge ordered John Shelton, a suspect in the 2004 disappearance of Molly Dattilo, to pay her family nearly $3.5 million in damages. The ruling is a rarity in a case where no criminal charges have been filed.

But Dattilo's family says the civil judgment offers little closure, because whoever is responsible for her disappearance at age 23 might never be charged.

And they still don't have a body to bury.

"It is one thing to be able to close a casket and say goodbye," cousin Keri Dattilo said Tuesday, "and it's another to never know what happened to your loved one."

Shortly before the Dattilos won their civil judgment Monday, they say, the detective handling the criminal case asked if they would consider meeting with Marion County prosecutors to discuss granting immunity to Shelton if he told them where her body is. They said authorities told them Shelton had said he knew where they could find it.

Celestra Hoffman, Molly's older sister, said she doesn't understand why prosecutors would offer such a plan but added, "We're weighing all of our options."

Prosecutor Carl Brizzi said through a spokesperson Tuesday that he could not confirm that those circumstances had been discussed.

For now, the civil judgment shows at least some culpability, the family says, which has encouraged them.

In the lawsuit, filed by Molly Dattilo's brother-in-law, Daniel Hoffman, the family claims Shelton hurt her and likely caused her disappearance. They also claim that Shelton's father, Edward Shelton, played a role in her disappearance.

Molly Dattilo met John Shelton through a neighbor at an apartment complex where she was staying with her brother the day she disappeared. She had been taking summer classes at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.

The two went for a rowboat ride on a pond at the complex and then went to a Taco Bell. Dattilo later tried to call a friend from a pay phone at an Indianapolis gas station, but no one has heard from her since.

Marion Superior Court Judge David Dreyer ruled against the defendants by default -- John Shelton in June 2009 and Edward Shelton in August of this year -- because they didn't cooperate with the court.

Acting as his own attorney, John Shelton, who's in prison on other charges, appealed the default in September. Attorney James C. Spencer, who represents Hoffman, called that appeal "legally flawed."

Dreyer ruled Monday that the Sheltons owe the Dattilos nearly $3.5 million in damages.

The Dattilos know they likely will never get the money, but they say the ruling draws attention to Molly's case and John Shelton's alleged involvement.

Police initially dismissed Dattilo as a runaway, despite her family's pleas for help, Celestra Hoffman said. The Dattilos organized search parties, publicized the case on billboards and fliers, and went to the media, but they had no luck finding her.

They say they can't move on until they know what happened to Molly.

It's a feeling so unpleasant, Celestra Hoffman said, that she wouldn't wish it on her worst enemies.

"It has been pure hell."

[Kelly]

http://www.wkyt.com/...29.html?ref=429

Updated: 1:25 PM Nov 17, 2010

Judge hands down $3.4 million judgment in case of missing EKU student

More than six years after the mysterious disappearance of a central Kentucky college student, there are new developments in the case.

A judge in Indiana has ordered John Shelton and his father, Ed Shelton, to pay the family of Molly Dattilo $3.4 million.

It's for damages related to her death.

Dattilo's family filed a civil lawsuit that alleged John Shelton committed battery that led to Molly's death.

Both John and Ed Shelton refused to participate in the civil case, meaning the judge granted a default judgment.

To this day, Molly, who was an EKU student, has never been found.

Her relatives believe John Shelton was the last person to see her alive and knows where she is.

Molly's cousin, Kerri, tells an Indianapolis TV station that the civil suit never revealed information they were looking for.

Shortly after the Dattilos won the ruling, they said they were approached by the Marion County, Indiana prosecutor to discuss granting immunity to John Shelton if he told them the location of Molly Dattilo's body.

The Dattilo family says authorities told them Shelton said he knew where they could find it.

Prosecutors will not confirm the family's statements.

Molly disappeared in July 2004 while taking summer classes in Indiana.

In 2008, the case was ruled a homicide.

No criminal charges have ever been filed in the case.

Molly Dattilo met John Shelton through a neighbor at her apartment complex. He was the maintenance man there.

Shelton is currently in prison on unrelated charges in Indiana.

Reports out of Indianapolis say no one knows where Ed Shelton is.

[Lori Davis]

Missing without a trace
Most who disappear never get media attention

12:26 AM, Jul. 17, 2011

...

Molly Dattilo was a 23-year-old student at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis when she disappeared in Indianapolis in 2004.

Dattilo's family launched a media blitz six weeks after her disappearance because they were frustrated with the pace of the police investigation. It helped get Dattilo's story out.

"It is up to the family to keep pushing," said Keri Dattilo, 37, Molly's cousin. "You have to keep coming up with new ideas to keep it in the news, anything to get another story out and keep their face in the news."

Read more: http://www.indystar....|text|FRONTPAGE

[Lori Davis]

Annual concert series aimed at finding missing persons to stop in Indiana
The International Squeaky Wheel Tour will stop at Sam Ash Music, 8284 Center Run Dr., from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Nov. 4.
 
By Reba Reader
9:58 p.m. EDT, October 24, 2011

When a loved one goes missing, many families beg and plead for anyone to speak up, take notice or even just look at a photograph. An annual concert series aimed at raising awareness for those families will stop in Indiana Nov. 4.

The International Squeaky Wheel Tour is a grass roots effort to raise awareness about missing children and adults whose disappearances don't often garner the public's attention. The event was created by the GINA for Missing Persons FOUNDation.

[Excerpt..]

Missing persons highlighted at the event will include Molly Dattilo, Jason Ellis, Lola "Kathy" Fry, Brookley Louks, Jamie Meadows, Daniel Reaves, Shannon Sherrill, Karen Jo Smith, Steven Smith, Walter Tom Smith Jr., Lauren Spierer and Esther Westenberger.

Read more: http://www.fox59.com...,4517751.column

[Kelly]

http://www.azfamily....-138938294.html

Ariz. bill aims to change missing persons investigations

by Sybil Hoffman
Posted on February 8, 2012 at 9:45 PM
Updated today at 4:16 PM

PHOENIX -- Thousands of people go missing every year and many are never found, which leaves families in a constant state of the unknown. But Arizona lawmakers are considering a bill that would change the way police approach missing and unidentified persons cases.

At 23 years old, Molly Dattilo had her whole life ahead of her. Her cousin, Amy Dattilo told us, "She excelled in school. She excelled in sports. She was a long-distance runner."

Six weeks after Molly moved to Indianapolis, she vanished. As Amy remembers, "She did not have a proper search until after three weeks after she was missing. It was very, very frustrating. We lost time, we lost evidence I'm sure, of Molly."

Fueled by her frustration, Amy is now on a crusade to change the way missing persons investigations are handled in Arizona.

"We're doing it one state at a time," she said. "Unfortunately, it's not a federal law yet."

House Bill 2169 would standardize missing and unidentified cases. Among the changes, all evidence pertaining to the missing person would be collected in a timely manner.

Unidentified remains would automatically be entered into a national database.

"My greatest fear as a missing persons detective is that my missing person has ended up as a dead person in some small county that didn't collect DNA, didn't get dentals, didn't get all the information that would connect it to my missing persons case," said Phoenix police Detective Stuart Somershoe.

Had such mandates been in place years ago, missing persons like Dang Tang and Tina D'Ambrosio would have been handled much differently.

D'Ambrosio, 34, disappeared in June 1996 from her apartment near 19th and Northern avenues. Tina's mother, now 84 years old, has been haunted ever since.

"She told her doctor she wanted to live to be 100 so she can find out what happened to her daughter," Somershoe said.

Tang disappeared in March 1999. He was last seen at his brother's home near 47th Avenue and Bethany Home Road. His car was found abandoned at Terminal 4 at Sky Harbor Internationa. Airport.

"The processing of that vehicle is where we come to our first problem," Detective Will Andersen said. "They noted what was described to me as a cleaned-up scene. Since that time we've requested a reprocessing of the items of evidence that were taken at that time and that's where we're coming across blood."

Because evidence wasn't processed in a timely manner, Andersen explains, "We basically have to reinvent them in order to get a true idea, an accurate idea, of who Dang Tang was."

As for Amy, she says she'll never give up searching for Molly. "Until we have a body, we don't have the answers."

For all the details about House Bill 2169, go to www.azleg.gov.

Background about the Campaign for the Missing can be found at http://projectjason.org.

[Kelly]

http://www.examiner....ona?render=parc

Local Phoenix woman determined to change missing person laws in Arizona

By Kym Pasqualini
3/6/2012

Phoenix resident, Amy Dattilo is determined to change Arizona law to improve missing person investigations. Working with Kelly Jolkowski, founder of Project Jason, Amy is the Arizona representative for the national Campaign for the Missing. Working with families of missing persons throughout the country, the goal of the campaign is to change missing person law state by state.

HB 2169 would require law enforcement agencies to take an immediate report of a missing adult. The legislation would also implement a statewide, standardized protocol for all law enforcement investigating a missing person or unidentified case to include collecting DNA, dentals and require entry of personal identifying information into national FBI databases that cross reference the missing person and unidentified for matches.

Turning devastation into determination

Amy knows all too well the heartache faced by families of missing persons when waiting for any word of a loved one’s fate. Her cousin, Molly Dattilo, an Indiana University-Purdue student, vanished on the evening of July 6, 2004. Since Molly’s disappearance, the Dattilo family has tirelessly searched for answers to what happened the evening of Molly’s disappearance.

“The search for Molly didn’t begin until three weeks after Molly vanished and we know we lost time and evidence that I’m certain would have assisted the investigation,” said Amy. It has now become her mission to assist other families and ensure proper investigative response occurs immediately.

National scope of the problem

The FBI National Crime Information Center (NCIC) reports 83,473 active missing person cases and 7,751 unidentified persons in the United States as of January 31, 2011. In Arizona NCIC reports 2,188 active missing person cases and 311 unidentified persons. Currently, there is no federal mandate requiring law enforcement to take a missing person report of a person eighteen or older and there is a lack of official procedure governing ensuing investigations. As a result, investigators’ response to a missing adult case can vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction within each state creating a significant gap in identification efforts. Laws similar to HB2169 have already passed in other states, and are encouraged by the US Department of Justice that developed the model legislation with the assistance of experts from across the country.

In 1982, the United States Congress passed the Missing Children Act that requires law enforcement to take an immediate report of a missing child and exchange the information with other authorities throughout the country utilizing NCIC.  Without similar measures, families of missing adults fear their missing loved ones could be located deceased in another county or even another state and cases will remain unsolved.

Prolonged agony

For an 84-year-old Phoenix mother of a missing young woman, Arizona legislators could not pass this law soon enough.  At age 34, Tina D’Ambrosio vanished in June 1996 from her residence near 19th Avenue and Northern in Phoenix.  Her mother has lived years with the torment of not knowing and expressed to her doctor she wants to live until she is 100-years-old so she can find out.

Amy continues her tireless effort to ensure other families of missing persons will not have to endure years of not knowing what happened to their missing loved ones. “This law is critical in the effort to bridge information sharing gaps that prevent identification of missing and unidentified. I don’t want another family to go through what my family must continue to endure,” said Amy.

For information about Arizona HB 2169 visit www.azleg.gov.You can find local missing and unidentified person cases on Phoenix Police Department Missing & Unidentified Personspage on Facebook.

[Lori Davis]

http://www.wave3.com...links-to-gibson

Molly Dattilo's sister answers questions about links to Gibson

Posted: May 18, 2012 5:07 PM EDT
Updated: May 18, 2012 5:12 PM EDT
By Elizabeth Donatelli

NEW ALBANY, IN (WAVE) - A New Albany man is charged with two murders and investigators found the body of a third buried in his backyard. WAVE 3 caught up with the family of another area missing woman to ask if they think there could be a connection.

"She had a fun really outgoing personality," said Tara Warner about her missing sister. "She was really friendly towards people. She was an amazing runner. She was top 10 in the state of Indiana all four years of high school."

Those are the things Molly Dattilo's big sister remembers most about her.

"If someone asked her to do something, she would always go out of her way to do something. She was always doing things for other people."

Dattilo was taking summer school classes in Indianapolis. She left her brother's apartment with just a key, and never made it home.

"I got a call on a Friday from my dad who said your sister Molly is missing," said Warner.

That was eight years ago and still one of the most talked about missing person's cases in region.

Just recently two other ones may be solved. William "Clyde" Gibson, of New Albany, is charged with killing Karen Hodella 10 years ago. She was missing for months before police discovered her body along the Ohio River.

35-year-old Stephanie Kirk of Clark County vanished in March. Police discovered her body in late April, buried in Gibson's backyard.

WAVE 3 asked Warner if the name "William Clyde Gibson" rings any bells or if police have contacted her family about a possible connection.

"They have not," said Warner. "We're actually focused on our main lead."

Dattilo's family won a $3.5 million judgment against John Shelton and his father Edward Shelton of Avon, IN. The lawsuit claims the men attacked Dattilo and possibly caused her death, however, neither has ever been criminally charged. Her sister says they'll keep fighting and has something to say to families of missing persons.

"To never give up hope and to remember that if their loved one has passed away that they are in a good place now," said Warner.

[Lori Davis]

http://www.fox59.com...,5027354.column

Friday marks 8th anniversary of Molly Datillo's disappearance
Molly Datillo, an Indiana University-Purdue University of Indianapolis student, vanished from the Westlake Apartments on the west side on July 6, 2004.


By Fox59
4:30 p.m. EDT, July 6, 2012
Indianapolis

Friday marked the 8th anniversary of a local woman’s disappearance. 

Molly Datillo, an Indiana University-Purdue University of Indianapolis student, vanished from the Westlake Apartments on the west side on July 6, 2004.

Investigators said she was with John Shelton, a former maintenance man at Westlake Apartments, at the time of her disappearance.

In 2010, he and his father, Ed Shelton, were ordered by a  judge to pay Datillo’s family about $3.4 million. Previously, both men had refused to participate in the civil case.

Shelton claims to have information about Datillo’s disappearance, but has never been charged with a crime in the case.

Shelton served time at Plainfield Correctional Facility for unrelated convictions.  He was released in January.

[Lori Davis]

http://www.wbiw.com/...ssing-woman.php

 

Family Still Searching For Missing Woman

Updated May 7, 2014 6:49 AM

 

(INDIANAPOLIS) - The family of a southern Indiana woman who vanished 10 years ago is making a plea for help.

 

Molly Datillo was last seen on July 6, 2004. Molly, 23, went for a boat ride at her apartment complex on Indianapolis's west side, and then ate at a Taco Bell on Crawfordsville Road. Molly's cousin Keri said the last sign of Molly was a phone call made to a friend at a pay phone. When the friend picked it up it was disconnected.

 

Police did not begin searching for Molly until a couple of months after she was reported missing. There's now a law in place named after Molly Datillo that requires a quicker response time to missing adult cases.

 

The Eastern Kentucky University student's body has never been found and no one has ever been charged with a crime.

 

On Thursday night, her family will take part in a live broadcast in an attempt to get the word out nationwide that they're looking for answers.

 

The broadcast will be on Spreecast, an Internet app and social media broadcasting platform.

 

Police asked anyone with information in the disappearance of Molly Datillo to call Crime Stoppers at 317-262-TIPS.

[Kelly]

http://fox59.com/201...their-struggle/

Family of woman missing for 10 years speaks to FOX59 about their struggle

Posted 10:47 PM, July 3, 2014, by Greg Margason - Web Producer, Updated at 07:52am, July 4, 2014

INDIANAPOLIS – Where is Molly?

It’s one of Indiana’s most well-known missing person cases.

No one has seen or heard from Molly Dattilo for a decade.

“I really never dreamed that we would be without Molly after ten years,” sister Celestra Dattilo Hoffman told FOX59.

Molly was last seen on July 6, 2004.

“I think she was killed. I don’t know exactly what happened,” said Hoffman.

Molly Dattilo was taking summer classes at IUPUI. She was training for her collegiate running team at Eastern Kentucky University and was living at the Westlake Apartments.

Celestra Dattilo Hoffman says her 23-year-old sister was excited to meet new people.

“Molly really felt like people could be trusted. That’s what got her into trouble,” said Hoffman.

Police did not initially investigate Molly Dattilo’s case as suspicious.

“I went to Indy a week after Molly disappeared and police hadn’t gone to her apartment,” said Hoffman.

Dattilo left behind everything. As the weeks passed by and no one heard from her, Dattilo’s family and the media demanded police pay more attention.

Detectives eventually searched the pond near Westlake Apartments.

Police also traced a phone call she made from a pay phone at a gas station on Crawfordsville Road.

Investigators found out that John E. Shelton was with Dattilo on the day she disappeared. Shelton’s brother was a maintenance man at Dattilo’s apartment complex.

“She supposedly met John that day. It was the last time she was seen,” said Hoffman.

Since Dattilo’s disappearance, the family has wanted more answers from John Shelton.

In 2010, the Dattilo family won a $3.5 million judgment against Shelton and his father, alleging the two men were involved in Dattilo’s disappearance.

“We received information that there was vomit found in Mr. Shelton’s car. When the police investigated it, it led to speculation that Molly had been strangled,” said family attorney James Spencer.

The Dattilo family won by default, meaning the man they say has answers never offered to explain himself.

At the time of the lawsuit, Shelton was an inmate at a state prison in Plainfield.

“It is a tragedy. The main problem is that a body has never been found,” said Spencer.

Shelton was recently released from prison. FOX59’s Nicole Pence tracked him down to get answers.
john shelton

“He said you could come up, but the camera has to stay down here,” said Shelton’s girlfriend.

FOX59 agreed to turn off the camera and talk to Shelton.

With the camera off, he told FOX59 he did go out with Molly Dattilo on the night of July 6, 2004.

“I was the only person dumb enough to admit I was with Molly that night,” he said.

“The Molly Dattilo case is a long-term case,” said Sgt. Paul Scott with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department’s missing persons unit.

Scott says his detectives receive nearly 6,000 missing persons cases a year. Scott says only 35 cases haven’t been resolved and one of those is Molly’s case.

“We still receive leads on the Molly Dattilo case, and those are followed up,” said Scott.

The Molly Dattilo Law was enacted in 2007 and strengthened in 2013. It requires law enforcement to accept missing persons reports immediately and identifies those as high risk.

The law also offers annual missing persons training for police departments.

“You never rank laws, but the Molly Dattilo Law has to be one of the top laws that has ever been passed in the legislature,” said Rep. Terry Goodin (D) who worked on the law.

The Dattilo family is still hoping to find Molly, but they are happy the law has helped other Hoosier families find their missing loved ones.

“We went from feeling helpless to feeling victorious. At this point, I have finally accepted that Molly is gone,” said Hoffman.

The Dattilo family may file paperwork to declare Molly legally dead.

If you know anything about Molly Dattilo’s disappearance, give detectives a call at 317-262-TIPS.

[Kelly]

http://www.wdrb.com/...er-memory-alive

Family of missing woman using teddy bear to keep her memory alive

Posted: Jul 30, 2015 2:21 PM PST
Updated: Jul 30, 2015 3:24 PM PST
By Lawrence Smith

MADISON, Ind. (WDRB) -- When Molly Dattilo went missing 11 years ago, it affected most everyone in her hometown of Madison. It is one of Indiana's most mysterious missing person cases and now her family is trying something new to make sure no one forgets.

Meet Miles Superbear. He is sent across the country to the hometowns of missing persons. On Thursday, he was in Madison, brought there by Molly Dattilo's cousin, Amy.

“That's the whole point of it, just to show people that we still remember her, we still honor her that, and Miles Superbear is our mascot for the missing,” said Amy Dattilo-Cavallaro.

On July 6, 2004, Molly Dattilo vanished. She had used a pay phone in Indianapolis and hasn't been seen since.

She is presumed dead, but her body has never been found.

“It's still like it was yesterday,” said Dattilo-Cavallaro.

Amy has photographed Miles the Superbear at many of Molly's favorite spots. They'll be posted on social media, and on the website of the bear's sponsor, Project Jason, which provides help to families of the missing.

“If we keep it alive, we still have hope. If we keep it alive, the people who do have the information, they can still come forward,” she said.

Police have never filed criminal charges, but the family did win a civil suit against the man suspected of killing Molly.

Molly's uncle, who runs the family's hundred-year-old business, is pleased that younger family members are still carrying her torch after more than a decade.

“The message gets old but these kids have continued with it, and I hope they continue with it until they get an answer,” said Tony Datillo.

Family members still have hope that they can one day bring Molly's remains home to Madison.

“I'm not going to stop until we find her,” said Amy.

On Friday, Amy mails the bear to Illinois, as the family another missing person tries to keep hope alive.

You can check out the Project Jason website here.
 

[Lori Davis]

http://www.madisonco...e/178/961/91897

 

Keeping Molly’s Memory Alive

Renee Bruck, Courier Staff Writer

Friday, July 31, 2015 3:03 PM

 

A teddy bear on a mission visited Madison on Thursday to spend the day raising awareness about missing persons.

 

Nearly 4,000 miles since his adventure began, Miles for the Missing Superbear traveled to the area to call attention to Madison native Molly Dattilo’s disappearance, which happened more than a decade ago.

 

Eleven years later, Molly’s family and friends still have few answers as to what happened to the youngest of nine children.

 

An Eastern Kentucky University student who was taking summer classes at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, Molly was last seen on July 6, 2004, around Westlake Apartments in Indianapolis. She left behind her cell phone, clothes, identification and ATM card on the night she disappeared.

 

Police traced a call Molly made to a friend from a pay phone around 11 p.m. on the day she disappeared to the Thornton’s gas station on Crawfordsville Road in Speedway. No one has heard from her since then.

 

The 5-foot, 100-pound woman with brown hair and green eyes was 23 years old when she went missing.

 

But Miles Superbear wasn’t in town to bring attention to the statistics retold over and over with each poster family and friends pinned up over the years.

 

Molly’s cousin Amy Dattilo Cavallaro said the teddy bear was in town to remember Molly for all the great things about her life.

 

Miles Superbear began the day by visiting the Madison Consolidated High School track with Dattilo’s family. Molly’s name still graces the girls’ track and field boards for her record-breaking achievements in the 1,600-meter and 3,200-meter races.

 

Cavallaro shared her memories of Molly’s high school track career while at the field. Molly’s sister, Tara, once held a Madison Consolidated High School track record that Cavallaro topped years later. In 1998, Molly beat Cavallaro’s record.

 

Molly’s record still stands today.

 

Miles Superbear and the Dattilo family then ventured to the riverfront near Broadway where the annual 5K run/walk and elementary races bearing Molly’s name are held.

 

Cavallaro said Molly would have loved the riverfront walkway.

 

Miles Superbear also stopped by Molly’s childhood home and the Dattilo Fruit Company on Main Street.

 

The teddy bear ended his visit with the family and day in Madison with a trip to the Lanier Mansion. Molly and her family spent several years just blocks away from the mansion in a home near the corner of Second and Elm streets.

 

While the memories remain 11 years after Molly’s disappearance, so do several questions. At first, family and friends waited for an explanation days after they last heard from Molly.

 

Those days turned into months. Months turned into years.

 

Yet they still wait for the answers.

 

The Dattilo family connected with Project Jason – a national nonprofit organization that provides resources to families of missing persons – after Molly went missing in 2004. Cavallaro also found out about Miles Superbear, a Project Jason awareness and fundraising campaign, through that connection.

 

The project began, ironically, on July 6 – the 11th anniversary of Molly’s disappearance. Miles Superbear left Washington state, traveling to visit families in Texas, West Virginia, Ohio and Indiana so far.

 

His next adventure takes him to Maple Park, Ill.

 

Cavallaro said Miles Superbear can only continue his nationwide journey if the project receives funding. Project Jason organizers hope to receive three donations of $14.99 for each stop he makes so the nonprofit group can continue its work with families of missing persons.

 

People may donate at www.projectjason.org.

 

Miles Superbear also shares his adventures and stories of his visits with families on Facebook under the name “Miles Superbear.”

 

Anyone with information about Molly’s disappearance should call the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department at (317) 262-TIPS.