Indiana Man Arrested in Connection to Black Girl’s Disappearance.

Karena S. McClerkin was 18 years previous when she went lacking Oct. 11, 2016. A person related to her disappearance has been arrested and charged with homicide. The Kokomo Police Division now imagine from a 2021 tip they know what occurred resulting in her vanishing, in accordance with IndyStar. Even so, it’s been 5 years and she or he’s nonetheless lacking.

McClerkin was reported lacking by her mom and suspected to have been with 57-year-old Flint Farmer across the time she disappeared. Reviews say the 2 had been collectively that day, Farmer bought meals and medicines and witnesses heard the 2 combating inside his condominium. McClerkin’s grandmother instructed NBC’s Dateline in 2017 that Karena had been in search of assist for substance abuse.

Earlier than she received the prospect to get well, she vanished. Per KPD, she was final sen at a residence within the 1000 block of South Washington.

Extra on the case kind WTHR 13 Information:

Gerry instructed “Dateline” she heard rumors her granddaughter had been killed and put in a tarp, buried in a wooded space, or thrown right into a waterway. Through the years, she has misplaced religion her granddaughter would possibly nonetheless be alive.

In 2018, police started reviewing telephone calls made by Farmer whereas he was in jail between Nov. 2016 and Nov. 2018 on a dealing in a managed substance cost. In one of many telephone calls, an individual allegedly instructed Farmer police had not discovered McClerkin but and for Farmer to “preserve his mouth shut and never say something.”

Court docket paperwork allege in one other telephone name, Farmer instructed a girl to maintain her mouth shut about what she noticed and “they might not discover a physique.”

Investigators mentioned they acquired new info within the fall of 2021 that make clear what might have occurred the day Karena went lacking. Court docket paperwork are closely redacted and don’t present what that info is likely to be.

In line with the Kokomo Tribune, items of the investigation are nonetheless sealed from the general public however Farmer’s arrest takes the case a major step ahead. He’s presently being held at Howard County Jail with out bond.

The Nationwide Crime Data Heart reported nearly half of reported lacking individuals in 2021 had been Black at 177,530 experiences. In 2020, they reported a 3rd of the 300,000 lacking ladies and ladies had been Black. Sadly in instances like these, the ladies are assumed to be lifeless earlier than they’re discovered and may testify in opposition to the one who kidnapped them.

Karena McClerkin is described to be 5’4, 130 kilos with black curly hair and brown eyes. She additionally has a tattoo on her proper forearm.

Anybody who might have further info is requested to contact Lieutenant Richard Benzinger at 765-456-7324, rbenzinger@cityofkokomo.org, or the Kokomo Police Division Hotline at 765-456-7017.