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Last updated on Wednesday, June 12, 2013
(LINTON) - Eric Wolfe had a “gut feeling that someone got a hold of his 19-year-old daughter Katelyn.
"She's just so small and wouldn't be able to do anything about it if they did," he added on Monday, before her body was discovered. "She weighs 110 pounds and is 5'2"."
Eric described Katelyn as fun-loving and honest. He said she was an artist, and often wrote poetry, painted and spent most of her time hanging out with friends.
Katelyn was a student at Ivy Tech, studying Visual Communications and had hopes of one day working in a field related to art.
Laura added Katelyn enjoyed spending time with people in general.
"She saw the good in everyone. If she went with someone who she thought was her friend, she would have trusted them," Laura said.
But Katelyn's dreams ended.
Two Jasonville men have been arrested in the connection with her death.
26-year-old Jordan Buskirk and 25-year-old Randal Crosley, are being held in the Greene County Jail accused of murder. Police say Katelyn knew at least one of the two men.
Investigators released little information on the case but in a few short hours after Wolfe was first reported missing, they did have two suspects.
Randal Crosley was taken into custody around 4 a.m. Friday on an out-of-county warrant connected to a drug case in Putnam County. He was booked into the Greene County Jail before 6 a.m. Friday and held without bond.
Linton Police Chief Troy Jerrell says officers also searched a vehicle belonging to, Jordan Buskirk, but Buskirk was not arrested until late Monday night.
No information has been released on what evidence police recovered, but Jerrell confirmed investigators have recovered evident to support the murder charges against the two men.
"This is a homicide investigation and we have a lot of work to still do, it is far from over," Jerrell says. "Details will come out later."
Jerrell announced late Monday night that Wolfe's body was discovered by Indiana Conservation officers at approximately 5 p.m. in the Greene-Sullivan State Forest near the border of Greene and Sullivan counties.
An autopsy was performed at 2:30 p.m. by Dr. Roland Kohr at Terre Haute.
Jerrells says he is not releasing any other details about Wolfe's death at this time because of the on-going investigation.
Katelyn was reported missing by her father at approximately 10 p.m. Thursday June 6th. The last time the family saw her was around 10 p.m. Wednesday, June 5, at her home in the area of C Street NW in Linton.
She communicated with someone around 3 a.m. on Thursday looking for someone to "hang out" with. There was no activity on her Facebook page or her cell phone after that time. But according to her family, shortly before her disappearance, Katelyn wrote a post on Facebook she was out taking a walk and creeps were driving by following her.
Besides Linton police detectives, officers and staff, the Indiana State Police contributed significant support to local officers in the effort to locate Wolfe.
"The Indiana State Police have been great," said Jerrell. "They've given us a tremendous amount of help and support and have offered all of their resources to support this investigation."
Jerrell also recognized the Jasonville Police Department -- they assigned an officer to offer full-time support, as did the Greene County Sheriff's Department. The Worthington Police Department also provided assistance along with numerous other agencies including Indiana DNR Conservation Officers.
Jerrell says their work is far from over, because now they are investigating a homicide.
Late Monday, Jerrell released a statement saying, "Our hearts and prayers goes out to the Wolfe family and loved ones.
"We do want to thank the community in their efforts in pulling together and supporting the Wolfe Family and hope they will continue to do so."
Eric Wolfe told police it was a rarity for his daughter to go more than a few hours without contacting him.
He added a family tragedy had brought them closer together and since that tragedy, the family had been very close.
"We are extremely close. We never go more than a couple hours without talking. She lost her mom in 2010, and that brought us a lot closer. She would never do anything to worry me like this," Eric explained.
Katelyn's step-mother, Laura, explained they were also close and stayed in frequent contact on a daily basis.
"I lost my mom at a young age, too. We bonded over that. We cried together and talked about those feelings," Laura explained.
"Katelyn always told us she was going to live with us forever. That she didn't want to leave. If we moved, she went with us. If we went anywhere, she went with us."
At approximately 1:30 a.m. on Thursday, Laura got up for work and Katelyn's bedroom light and television were still on. Just before leaving for work at 3 a.m., Katelyn had left the house. Her light was off, and her door was open.
Around 7 a.m., Eric started trying to call and text Katelyn to see where she was.
"After he still hadn't heard from her we started to drop by all of her friends' houses to see if they had heard from her, but no one had. I pulled her phone records on the computer, and there had been no activity since about 3 a.m.," Laura explained. "She was always on her phone all day long. Her face was always buried in her phone."
They became even more worried when they realized all of her cosmetics and personal belongings were still at home.
"I don't think when she left the house she planned on being gone long. She didn't take a change of clothes, she left her make-up, her purse, wallet and ID. She left with nothing but her cell phone," Laura said.
What worried them most was knowing Katelyn's best friend, Katie Vaughn, had not heard from her either.
"They have been best friends since they were little girls. They were always inseparable," Laura added.
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