John D. Miller, the man who confessed to the abduction and killing of 8-year-old April Tinsley in 1988, has died in custody at the age of 66. The Indiana Department of Correction confirmed that Miller pᴀssed away at St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis in early September 2025. He had been serving an 80-year prison sentence.

April Tinsley disappeared on the afternoon of April 1, 1988, after leaving a friend’s home on the south side of Fort Wayne, Indiana. Three days later, a jogger discovered her body in a ditch in rural DeKalb County. The case quickly became one of the most troubling unsolved crimes in the region and remained open for three decades.

In the years that followed, the investigation was marked by disturbing anonymous messages. In 1990, a note appeared on a barn near the site where April’s body had been found, claiming responsibility for her death and threatening further violence. More than a decade later, in 2004, additional notes and items containing DNA matching the original crime-scene evidence were left at residences in Fort Wayne. These developments kept the case in the public eye and heightened community concern.

Forensic science eventually provided the key. In the mid-2010s, DNA analysis produced composite sketches of the possible suspect. In 2018, investigators turned to genetic genealogy. Testing narrowed the pool of candidates to Miller and his brother. Police then collected discarded items from outside Miller’s home in Grabill. DNA recovered from those items matched samples taken from April’s clothing in 1988.

When officers approached Miller, he immediately referenced April Tinsley by name. He later admitted to abducting her, taking her to his trailer, and killing her. In December 2018 he pleaded guilty to murder and child molesting. A judge sentenced him to 50 years for the murder and 30 years for the related offense, for a total of 80 years. Official records listed his earliest possible release date as July 15, 2058 — when he would have been 99 years old. By the time of his death he had served a little more than seven years.

News of Miller’s death prompted a quiet community gathering. April’s family organized a balloon release at April’s Garden, a memorial site near the intersection of Hoagland and Masterson Avenues in Fort Wayne. Relatives and local residents attended to remember the young girl whose death had left a lasting impact on the city.

The exact cause of Miller’s death was not immediately released. Officials with the Marion County Coroner’s Office were contacted for additional details at the time the news first became public.

The resolution of the April Tinsley case in 2018 was widely regarded as a significant success for forensic genetic genealogy, a technique that has since helped close many other long-standing investigations. For many in Fort Wayne, Miller’s death marked the final chapter in a case that had haunted the community for more than three decades.

Sources : 21Alive News