A teenage girl's body is found near the Ohio river four days after she vanished In the fall of 2001, eighteen-year-old White / Caucasian female Amanda Lee Vanscyoc was attempting to navigate a difficult period in her young life in Boonville, Indiana. After struggling with peer groups that influenced poor decisions and landing on probation, she had resolved to turn her life around. She moved in with her mother, Linda Warner, and stepfather, John Warner, and began seeking employment while agreeing to work as a confidential informant for local narcotics officers. On the morning of November 9, 2001, her mother saw her awake and getting dressed for a second job interview at a local Walmart. This was the last confirmed sighting of the teenager. When her mother called home later that day, there was no answer, and Amanda never returned that evening. Her parents did not immediately report her missing, fearing that police involvement might trigger a probation violation if she had simply run off or relapsed.
Four days later, on November 13, deer hunters trekking through a rural area near the Ohio River in Yankeetown, Indiana, made a grisly discovery. They found a nude body wrapped in a rug and discarded in a location locally known as a hotspot for drug activity. Investigators identified the remains as those of Amanda Vanscyoc and determined that she had been dead for approximately three to five days, placing her death around the time she disappeared. An autopsy revealed she had been strangled. Despite the location's reputation, police eventually concluded she had likely been killed elsewhere and her body transported to the woods.
As detectives delved into her background, they explored several theories regarding her murder. Given her status as a police informant, there was speculation that her death was a retaliatory act. However, law enforcement noted that while she was open about her cooperation with police, she had provided little actionable intelligence and had not participated in any undercover stings. Authorities also looked at her former boyfriend, Chad Leroy Goodwin, against whom she had testified in a robbery case, but he was not named a primary suspect in her homicide.
The investigation took a darker turn when forensic evidence directed attention closer to home. DNA analysis recovered semen from Amanda’s body which was matched to her stepfather, John Warner. Initially denying any involvement, Warner later admitted to having a sexual relationship with his stepdaughter but maintained it was consensual. He allegedly failed a polygraph test regarding her death, yet he claimed he had been home alone sleeping on the morning she vanished. Despite the forensic link and the scrutiny of investigators, prosecutors felt there was insufficient evidence to bring formal murder charges against him.
The case eventually went cold with no arrests made. John Warner died in a car accident in September 2004, taking any further secrets he may have held to his grave. Amanda’s mother continued to defend her late husband's innocence, creating a rift with Amanda's biological father, who remained convinced of Warner's guilt. Decades later, the murder of Amanda Vanscyoc remains an open and unsolved investigation in Warrick County.
