In the winter of 2017, the life of 30-year-old Jenny Lynn Boltinghouse tragically ended. On February 13, 2017, her body was discovered in the cold waters of the White River in Indianapolis, Indiana. The grim finding was made in the 2900 block of South Harding Street after a fisherman spotted the body and alerted the authorities. An autopsy would later reveal that Boltinghouse, a mother of three, had been shot multiple times, with wounds to her head and arm, leading investigators to rule her
death a homicide.
For a period, the investigation into who was responsible for Boltinghouse's death yielded no significant leads. The initial inquiry explored a potential connection to accusations that she had pawned items from a storage unit belonging to an ex-boyfriend, but this path did not lead to an immediate breakthrough in the case. The last time friends and family had any contact with her was on February 3, 2017, leaving a ten-day gap in the timeline of her final days. The case grew cold, leaving her loved ones without answers.
Years later, a series of crucial tips breathed new life into the stalled investigation. In July 2019, while working on an unrelated case, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department detectives received information from a witness who claimed a man named Riki Eaton had confessed to killing Boltinghouse on multiple occasions. Then, in May 2021, another individual came forward in a different jurisdiction, telling officers that Eaton had killed their cousin, Boltinghouse, and disposed of her body in the river. Following this, several other witnesses emerged with information that implicated Eaton in the murder.
The motive, as pieced together by investigators, appeared to stem from Eaton's fear that Boltinghouse was going to inform the police about his involvement in other criminal activities. There were also suggestions that Boltinghouse may have taken some of Eaton's personal belongings. To ensure the silence of those with knowledge of the crime, Eaton allegedly threatened to kill anyone who spoke to the police. Further solidifying the case against him, cellphone data showed that Eaton's phone had been turned off near the White River around the time of the murder. Following a three-day trial, Riki Eaton was found guilty of the murder of Jenny Boltinghouse. He was subsequently sentenced to 66 years in prison.
