A man is found dead in a crawl space In the small town of Lakeville, Indiana, forty-year-old Lawrence 'Larry' Howard Groves, a Caucasian male, was known for his passion for antiques. He lived a relatively quiet life in a bungalow he had once shared with his late partner, Tom Bennett. The last time anyone heard from him was late on the evening of January 12, 2003. Groves was on the phone with a friend when someone began banging on his door, demanding to be let in.
He recognized the visitor and told his friend he would call back in twenty minutes, but that call was never returned.
Weeks turned into months with no word from Groves. His family, unable to reach him and noticing his antique business was untended, reported him missing on January 28, 2003. Police and family members visited his locked home on several occasions but found no signs of foul play or any clue as to his whereabouts. A neighbor later recalled seeing trucks coming and going from the property during this time but assumed it was related to Groves' antique dealings. The mystery of his disappearance lingered over the community as winter turned to spring.
The grim discovery was made in June 2003. A neighbor, concerned by a foul odor and an unusual number of flies around the property, contacted Derl Bennett, the father of Groves' late partner and the owner of the bungalow. Upon entering the house, they were met with an overpowering smell. Knowing the layout of the home, Bennett led them to a secret trap door hidden under a rug and a desk, which opened into a crawl space. Inside, they found the decomposing body of Lawrence Groves.
Due to the advanced state of decomposition, an exact cause of death could not be determined. However, investigators found evidence of a struggle. Blood and hair that did not belong to Groves were discovered on his remains and within the crawl space, suggesting he had fought his attacker. Suspicion soon fell upon a man who was known to Groves and had been seen selling antiques from Groves' collection in Michigan in the months following his disappearance. This individual was brought in for questioning and, while he remained calm and denied any involvement, he provided a DNA sample before requesting a lawyer. The investigation hit a wall in 2006 when the FBI crime lab concluded that the suspect's DNA was not a match to the evidence found at the scene. With their only person of interest cleared, the case went cold, and the murder of Lawrence Howard Groves remains unsolved.
