Patty Anderson works hard, tackling a third-shift job seven days a week.
It’s the time outside her job, however, that’s even tougher sometimes. Because it’s then — whether sitting at home or driving to and from work — that her mind drifts to 15 years ago and her daughter, Holly.
“It just seems hard to imagine it’s been this long,” Anderson said.
The body of 18-year-old Holly Anderson was discovered on Jan. 9, 1992, dumped along a rural road near Perrysville, Ind. She had been fatally stabbed in both the chest and the abdomen.
The teenager was last seen earlier in the evening on Jan. 8 when she went by a Danville liquor store where her boyfriend worked. She agreed to return to pick him up at midnight, but never arrived.
No arrests have ever been made in the case.
Anderson said dealing with it had become a little easier over time for her. At first, leaving the focus of her job each day was difficult.
“Every day, when it was time for me to leave, I knew reality was going to hit me in the face,” she said. “It was all I could do to walk out the door and get out to my car without breaking down.”
Criminal investigations have continued on both sides of the state line in the case, beginning with Danville police detectives following the fatal stabbing.
Holly Anderson’s car was found behind a church two days later in the 500 block of East Main Street. Another discovery — her wallet — was made almost two months later in a wooded area along Grape Creek Road south of Danville.
Danville police spokesman Larry Thomason said the case, at this point, has been turned over to Indiana State Police investigators in Terre Haute, Ind.
Detective Wayne Sager of the District 10 headquarters said 2006 yielded some lead work on the case, and detectives have had information on possible suspects in recent years that has been followed up on.
Sager could not comment on who the possible suspects were at the time.
Indiana does not have a statute of limitations on case investigations, allowing investigations to continue indefinitely.
According to policy for state police in Indiana, Sager said each cold case is reviewed on a yearly basis to check as to whether there is anything that can be done with it.
“With the advances in DNA technology, there have been several cases in Indiana reopened based on DNA that were old that have been solved,” he said.
That avenue has already been attempted in the Anderson case, however, with no luck in gaining a lead through DNA evidence from the case, Sager added.
Anderson said she still speaks with Danville officers whenever there are advances in the investigation. She said she hasn’t heard from law enforcement in quite a while.
“It is frustrating,” she said. “You want to know.”
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