IU Student Jill Behrman Disappeared

On May 31, 2000, Marilyn Behrman left for work at the IU foundation around 8:30 a.m., just as her daughter was waking up. Jill Kristen Behrman, 19, signed off of her computer at 9:32 a.m. and left her Bloomington residence, setting out on her daily bicycle ride.

Jill was scheduled for a noon shift at the IU Student Recreational Sports Center where she worked as an equipment room supervisor. But Jill never clocked in, nor did she meet up with her father and grandparents for lunch. When her father, Eric Behrman, returned home he found Jill’s red backpack by the door with her money and ID inside.

Initially, her parents believed that she caught up with friends and simply lost track of time, however, their concern escalated when friends and family said they had not heard from her. Later that evening, her parents reported her missing.

“We’ve sent dive teams into bodies of water, we’ve performed ground searches, air searches, had help from rescue crews from across the state, sent out dog team…Spoke to convicted sex offenders, coworkers, classmates, doormates, friends of the family.”

Two days later, Jill’s Cannondale R500 was discovered near a hayfield owned by local farmer Joe Pedan, 10 miles from Jill’s home. Initially, authorities believed that Jill was struck by a vehicle and “rather than report the accident and seek help for Jill, they panicked,” said FBI agent Gary Dunn.

Authorities would later learn that a witness had seen Jill’s bike lying on the side of the road forty-five minutes after Jill was last seen riding on Bloomington’s southeast side. One witness recalled seeing Jill riding alone at the intersection of Harrell Road and Moffett Lane at approximately 10:00 a.m. This was corroborated by search dogs who found Jill’s water bottle along Harrell Road and her digital radio in the parking lot og a Bloomington church. The witness recalled seeing a dark colored pickup truck in the area.

Two weeks after Jill’s disappearance, an 18-year-old woman told authorities she was walking alone at 10:30 p.m. in Ellettsville - three miles from where Jill’s bike was found - when a man inside an old black Ford pickup reached out the passenger window and attempted to pull her inside. The young woman managed to break free and report the encounter to police. While authorities believed the two cases were connected, no one has been arrested in that case.

At this time, authorities received a tip from Debbie Bell who claimed she spoke with her nephew John Myers II on June 5. He spoke of a girl who had been abducted and that he was afraid he would be blamed for it, mentioning that the girl’s bike had been found a mile from his house. “[T]hey haven’t found her body yet” and guessed that the girl was dead. He stated that he was afraid of the roadblocks.

Following this tip, Detectick Rick Crussen interviewed John’s parents, Jodi and John Myers Sr. After John’s parents were interviewed by authorities, he called his grandmother, Betty Swafford, asking to borrow $200. He stated that he couldn’t come to her house due to the roadblocks and mentioned that he was a suspect in the disappearance. The following day, Detective Crussen interviewed John who alleged he was home from work during the last week of May. During that week, he spent most of the time at home as his then-girlfriend, Carly Goodman, had canceled their plan to go to Myrtle Beach and Kings Island.

Investigators learned that Carly ended their relationship in the spring of 2000 and denied any vacation plans. This was confirmed by Debbie who told authorities that John was depressed due to problems with Carly and spoke about leaving town and never coming back. He felt like “a balloon full of hot air about to burst.”

A week later, John’s brother, Samuel, noticed his 12-gauge shotgun was missing from his parent’s home.

The following summer, John showed a co-worker where he lived and the location of where Jill’s bike was discovered. While on N. Maple Grove Road, he stated if he was ever going to hide a body he would hide it in a wooded area up “this way,” pointing north. On a separate occasion, John told the coworker that he knew someone in Florida who had Jill’s ID and checkbook.

In late 2001, John told a family member that he bet Jill would be found in the woods and indicated he was familiar with the Paragon area, as well as Horseshoe Bend where he liked to hunt.

On March 22, 2002, the investigation was taken in a different direction when Wendy K. Owings confessed to FBI agent Gary Dunn implicating herself, Uriah J. Clause, and Alisha T. Evans in Jill’s disappearance. Wendy claimed that Uriah was driving while high when he took his eyes off the road for a second when the vehicle struck Jill who was riding her bike. Uriah, Alison, and Wendy placed Jill and the bike into the bed of the truck and drove to Salt Creek where they took turns stabbing Jill in the chest and heart, then disposing of her body in the creek.

Each of them were considered suspects early in the investigation based on comments they made to 22 witnesses regarding Jill. Alisha’s cousin reportedly told police Alisha was a suspect because she had talked about the killing and said she was involved. Wendy’s own mother, Terri Magness, later testified that Wendy “got mad at [her] one night and said she was gonna kill [her] dog like she did Jill.” Additionally, Wendy’s former cellmate, Kimberly Enochs said “[Wendy] said they were in a vehicle that hit her, that they were all messed up and when the truck hit it didn’t kill her.”

Authorities searched the Salt Creek and found a large sheet of industrial plastic, consistent with Wendy’s story. Six months later, a large portion of Salt Creek was drained leading to the discovery of another sheet of industrial plastic, a bungee cord, and a knife, also consistent with Wendy’s confession. However, Jill’s remains were not found.

During a polygraph exam, Wendy told the truth when asked if she had knowledge of Jill’s disappearance. Additionally, when Uriah and Alison stated they had no knowledge of her disappearance, the polygraph indicated signs of deception. After this, Wendy recanted her confession. Wendy alleged she concocted the story claiming local police and an FBI agent promised to let her out of jail. She stated her public defender coaxed her to admit what she did and take the deal to avoid prison as she was facing decades behind bars for unrelated crimes. “They gave me extra charges. They had me sent to prison before I was convicted. I was facing 80 years,” Wendy said. The Monroe County Prosecutor declined to pursue charges.

Meanwhile, on March 27, John, who was in Monroe County Jail due to unrelated charges, told Correctional Officer Johnny Kinser that he had found some letters which mentioned Jill’s disappearance on a food tray and believed Officer Kinser should take a look. He said he felt bad about what happened to that “young lady” and wished he could help find her. John proceeded to compile a list of possible locations of Jill’s remains.

On March 9, 2003, Jill’s partial remains were discovered by two turkey hunters in a wooded area 15-miles from Bloomington. There was no evidence of stab or knife wounds, nor evidence of blunt force trauma. The cause of death was ruled to be a contact shotgun wound to the back of the head. Authorities recovered a shotgun shell wadding from the scene typical of a 12-gauge shotgun shell wadding, as well as 380 number eight shot lead wadding.

During this time, John told another co-worker, who had brought a newspaper to work announcing the discovery of Jill’s remains, that the woods pictured in the article looked familiar, as he had hunted there before. According to the co-worker, the woods pictured did not appear distinctive. In a “cocky” tone of voice, John stated it was good Jill had been found but he was surprised that he had not been contacted by authorities as he knew Wendy, Uriah, and Alison.

In fall of 2004, John was upset and called his grandmother Betty. “Grandma, if you just knew the things that I’ve got on my mind. [I]f the authorities knew it, I’d be in prison for the rest of my life.” John later arrived at Betty’s home with tears in his eyes. “Grandma, I wish I wasn’t a bad person. I wish I hadn’t done these bad things,” he said.

On May 2, 2005, Indiana State Police Detectives Tom Arvin and Rick Lang interviewed John who denied making any statements about the case to anyone other than the police. During a conversation with his cellmate at the Monroe County Jail, John made reference to the “bitch” and stated “if she [referring to Jill] wouldn’t have said anything…none of this would have happened.

On April 9, 2006, John was arrested and charged with the murder of Jill. At trial the prosecution claimed that he was angry over the break up and took out his rage on Jill by abducting and murdering her. However, the defense had a different theory. During opening statements, the defense suggested that during the search for Jill, search dogs lead authorities to Brian Hollas’ front door. Deputy Charles Douthett testified that a bloodhound had tracked her scent in the general direction of Brian’s residence but also near the location of her bike and John’s home.

The defense promised to provide evidence that the Bloomington resident and Student Recreational Sports Center employee was having an affair with Jill and prior to her disappearance they were seen fighting because Jill was pregnant. However, the defense failed to present any evidence to support their theories. Furthermore, Brain testified that he was at work on the day Jill disappeared.

Brain was questioned by three agencies over six years and was cleared by investigators and a grand jury.

Following a twelve-day trial, the jury found John guilty and he was sentenced to 65 years. In late 2019, the federal court vacated John’s conviction, however, the following summer, the U.S. Court of Appeals reversed this decision. It was determined that while the U.S. Court of Appeals agreed with the district court that John’s legal counsel was ineffective; the jury’s verdict was the proper outcome based on the state’s case against him. As a result, his conviction was upheld.

As of June 2022, John is requesting a new trial in the murder conviction of Jill Behrman.