Indiana State Police seeking help with 41-year-old cold case murder of Darlene Hulse

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Indiana State Police investigators are seeking help with the 41-year-old cold case murder of Darlene Hulse.

This Sunday marks 41 years since Hulse was abducted from her rural Argos home in Marshall County and murdered. Hulse was a homemaker, wife, and mother of three daughters.

On Aug. 17, 1984, shortly after 9 a.m., Hulse and her three daughters were preparing to leave their residence on 20B Road in Argos when a man forced entry into the residence under the guise of a delivery. A struggle ensued between Hulse and her attacker. During the struggle, Hulse’s daughters, ages 6 and 8, fled the residence and ran to a nearby relative’s house to report the incident.

The Marshall County Sheriff’s Office was contacted and officers from the Argos Police Department, Marshall County’s Sheriff’s Office, and the Indiana State Police immediately responded to the residence. When officers arrived, they found Hulse’s 11-month-old daughter in the residence, but Hulse was missing. Investigators were able to determine that Hulse was brutally attacked and abducted, being driven from the residence in the attacker’s vehicle.

An area search was conducted, but Hulse was not located.

In the early afternoon hours of Aug. 18, police received a report about a dead woman who was found in a wooded area by a timber surveyor on Olive Trail between State Road 110 and 20A Road. This is six miles west of the Hulse residence. Investigators confirmed the identity of the dead woman as 28-year-old Darlene Hulse.

An autopsy ruled the official cause of death as blunt force trauma.

Witnesses described the suspect as a white male in his mid to late 20s, 6’0” to 6’2” tall, blonde hair combed to the side, with a long nose and long face. The suspect vehicle was described as possibly being a Pontiac or an Oldsmobile.

“Somebody knows something,” said Detective Arthur Smith of the Indiana State Police Cold Case team. “It might be a family member, friend, or former associate. Please help us in finding answers for Darlene’s family and the community. They deserve it.”

Any information regarding this case can be reported through the Cold Case Hotline at 833-466-2653, or via email at ispcoldcase@isp.in.gov.

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