Prosecutors in Henry County have indicted a man on first-degree murder charges in the death of an 11-year-old girl who went missing in 1996 from her home in nearby Moline.
Jamison Fisher was indicted Wednesday on three counts of first-degree murder and one count of concealment of a homicidal death for his alleged role in the death of Trudy Appleby, who disappeared from her home in Moline on Aug. 20, 1996, and was never seen again.
Moline police Chief Darren Gault said that officers issued an arrest warrant for Fisher shortly afterward. Fisher has not yet been extradited to Illinois because he was being held in Scott County, Iowa, on unrelated charges.
Gault said at a Thursday news conference that Trudy had wanted to go swimming at Campbell's Island along the Mississippi River that day, but her father told her no. However, phone records from that day indicated that she went ahead with her plans for a late-summer swim. She left her home in the passenger seat of an older grey vehicle driven by an unidentified man and was never seen again.
Gault said the disappearance haunted the family, the city of Moline and the detectives who had investigated the case for nearly 29 years until Wednesday. He credited the hard work of detectives and the support of the community for their continued efforts on this case, with new pieces of information coming forward that led to Fisher's indictment.
However, Gault was limited in the amount of information he could provide Thursday, noting that an investigation was still ongoing to try and locate the girl's remains, which have still not been found.
What prosecutors say happened to Trudy Appleby
Henry County State's Attorney Cathy Runty said at the news conference that Fisher had allegedly strangled Trudy to her death after her abduction, then moved her body afterward.
Rock Island State's Attorney Dora Villareal said that while there was evidence to indicate that Fisher had kidnapped the girl from her Moline home, the statute of limitations meant that authorities could not formally charge him with kidnapping. Because murder and concealment do not contain the same statute of limitations, Fisher was charged with those two crimes.
Gault said that Fisher's arrest brings officials one step closer to providing closure to Trudy's family, who have been waiting for nearly 29 years for answers regarding their daughter's disappearance.
"We hope it offers a measure of peace to her family and all of those who have walked this journey with them," Gault said. "I will remind anyone that doubts us that if you commit violent crimes in the city of Moline, we will hunt you down no matter how long it takes, whether it takes us 30 minutes, 30 hours or 30 years. We will find you."
Gault said that while Fisher's arrest wasn't going to bring their daughter back, Trudy's family was relieved to hear of it. He credited continued and ongoing work by journalists and the community at large of keeping Trudy's story alive as one of the reasons why they were able to make the arrest.
"Over time, people become more cooperative," Gault said. "They understand that it's not going away. That's an important role both you and I have as partners to educate the public and by doing so, we kept that story in their minds."
Detective Mike Griffin, the lead investigator for the Moline Police Department on the Appleby case, said that it was a case study in how effective law enforcement can be when everyone works together, as Moline had help from law enforcement agencies in Rock Island and Henry counties, along with Illinois State Police and the FBI.
"It's nothing that we can solely take credit for and say it's our case," Griffin said. "We've done this together with our communities. This is a community win, and I hope they feel that, too."
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Search for Trudy Appleby's remains will continue
When asked about how they would prosecute someone for murder without finding remains, Runty said that it was the 605th case nationally of a "no-body" homicide, something that is more than within the scope of the law that is able to be prosecuted.
"The law allows for it," Runty said. "We intend to utilize those aspects of the law to continue to advocate for Trudy."
Villarreal feels confident they will have the law on their side when they take the case to trial, citing the work done by attorneys in both Rock Island and Henry counties to ensure that they could charge Fisher.
"We've had great legal minds that were able to work together with all of the information and investigations that all of the law enforcement agencies have done," Villarreal said. "We feel confident about the law being on our side in supporting the indictments."
Gault compared the nearly three-decade-long investigation to trying to complete a 10,000-piece jigsaw puzzle without having a picture on the box for reference. He credited the work of police in 1996 and years since in helping to set the foundation for future officers and detectives to complete the investigation.
"Many detectives at the Moline Police Department played a role in that," Gault said. "We are really grateful for the great police work that was done in 1996 and the decades after that that set the Moline Police Department up in a current, modern time to continue on that case."
With Trudy's body still not found, Gault said that they would continue to look for her remains, not leaving any stone unturned in trying to continue to find closure for her family and the community.
"We will continue to pursue anything that comes up," Gault said. "There will be a lot of legal proceedings that occur in the next weeks and months and years, and we hope we will be back in front of you at some point to give you better answers."
Runty did not set a timetable for when Fisher would be extradited back to Illinois, saying that the legal process needs to play out on the other charges.
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This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Jamison Fisher charged in 1996 death of Trudy Appleby in Moline
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