A young woman never makes it to her parents' home and her body is found days later In the autumn of 2004, 33-year-old Tracy Sissom was starting a new chapter in her life. A resident of Indianapolis, Indiana, she was in the process of moving out of the apartment she had shared with her estranged husband, Michael, and back into her parents' home. On the evening of September 20, 2004, while using her father's black 1995 Chevy Trailblazer to transport her belongings from her apartment near 30th and Post Road, she called her mother around 7:30 p.m.
to say she was finishing up and would be home soon. That was the last time her family heard from her. When she failed to arrive, her parents reported her missing.
The investigation into her disappearance took a significant turn on October 4, 2004, when a Marion County Sheriff's deputy found the Trailblazer abandoned on North Oakland Avenue. A witness reported seeing the vehicle being driven erratically before a man and a woman hastily exited the SUV and fled on foot. A search of the vehicle uncovered a partial box of ammunition, but no fingerprints or DNA evidence could be recovered, leading to speculation that the vehicle had been wiped clean.
A grim discovery was made on October 8, 2004, in a wooded area in rural Brown County, about 70 miles from Indianapolis. A man who had struck a deer with his vehicle the previous night returned to the scene to look for debris and stumbled upon a body wrapped in a blanket. Due to the advanced state of decomposition, authorities were initially unable to determine the gender of the deceased. Investigators released information about distinctive tattoos on the body—a chain on the ankle and a flower on the back of the leg—in an effort to identify the remains. On December 17, 2004, through dental records, the remains were positively identified as Tracy Sissom. Her death was officially ruled a homicide, although the specific cause of death was not publicly disclosed. An autopsy revealed no drugs in her system.
Despite numerous leads, the investigation into Tracy Sissom's murder grew cold. Authorities could find no connection between Tracy and Brown County, the area where her body was discovered. Her estranged husband, Michael Sissom, was identified as a person of interest, and it was reported that he was familiar with the area where her remains were found from hunting trips in his youth. It was also reported that Tracy had a restraining order against him at the time of her death. However, no arrests have ever been made in the case. In 2006, Tracy's family offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest, but the case remains unsolved.
