An accused Indiana child killer left his phone’s health app on during the time police believe 17-year-old Valerie Tindall was murdered, according to court documents.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, police discovered Tindall’s body on November 28, in the backyard of a home off Oak Street in Arlington. Police detained and arrested Patrick Scott, 59, on Tuesday in connection with the case.
Tindall disappeared on June 7 after leaving to work for a lawn care service owned by Scott. She informed her parents she was headed out to work, then never returned home. Her last known social media activity happened at around 12:57 p.m. that day.
Tindall’s family didn’t hear from her or see her again.
Scott initially told police that Tindall didn’t work for him on the day in question, but when confronted with evidence, he allegedly changed his story, admitted he saw Tindall on June 7, but claimed he dropped her off to meet an unknown boy in Homer, Indiana.
Court documents obtained by The Docket state that Scott deleted numerous phone apps on his phone around the time of Tindall’s disappearance. His Apple Health app, however, was operating in the background on June 7, and showed “significant health activities at approximately 1:35 p.m.”
Police later found Tindall’s car abandoned at a Shelbyville apartment complex. Scott had allegedly been driving the car and told investigators that he was simply moving the teen’s vehicle for her and that they both left in his lawn care truck.
Investigators said the defendant was likely moving the car in an attempt to hide it. Investigators also said Scott and his wife went to the Tindall residence on June 7, following the teen’s disappearance, in an attempt to “support the Tindall family.”
Valerie Tillard Murder: Pro… by Leigh Egan
On October 23, cadaver dogs searched Scott’s property. Court documents indicate that four dogs picked up the smell of human decomposition at a pond on the property. A dive team with the Indiana State Police searched the pond but found no one.
A dog handler told investigators that the scent could have been picked up due to a “water runoff” or a scent from a nearby location. During the search, investigators learned that the “wind was coming from the direction of Patrick Scott’s other property located at 2366 N Oak Street, Arlington.”
On October 12, investigators performed a “flyover” on Scott’s two properties and found ground disturbance in several areas. On November 28, while searching Scott’s property, police found Tindall’s body wrapped in a tarp, in a large homemade box buried in a large dirt pile with debris. Tillard was discovered inside the box.
Investigators also found another homemade box in the debris. Inside the box, they found VHS tapes and miscellaneous paperwork.
Tindall later, according to court documents, told police that he “took a belt and put it around her [Tindalls’] neck,” following a dispute, “until she quit moving.”
He also allegedly admitted to making a box and placing Tindall’s body in it, wrapping it in “whatever I could find.”
Meanwhile, Valerie’s mother, Shena Sandefur, told Fox 59 that someone told her they overheard Scott telling the victim that he wanted to take her “someplace special” on June 7, after a lunch outing in Indianapolis. The same person said that Scott appeared to be a “jealous boyfriend” and would constantly check Tindall’s phone.
“We moved away from Indy to get away from violence. And we moved across the street from her predator,” Sandefur said. ”She’s a really good person, sweet kid. She worked hard to get her grades up, she was gonna go to college, she was accepted and now she’ll never have the chance.”
Rush County Sheriff Allan Rice said the investigation is in its early stages and “far from over.”
“This is not the outcome we had all hoped for,” Rice said. “This case is still under investigation to ensure those responsible are successfully prosecuted.”
Anyone with information about the case is urged to contact Crime Stoppers at (317) 262-TIPS or the Rush County SO at (765) 932-2931.
Scott remains behind bars on one count of murder. Check back for updates.
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[Feature Photo: Valerie Tindall/Facebook via Shena Sandefur]
