Ada Haradine

Status:

Open

Jurisdiction:

Elkhart County Sheriffs Department (IN)

Offense Location:

Elkhart, Indiana

Summary:

Ada Van Loo Haradine was born in Germany in 1944 and married Carl Edwin "Ed" Haradine Jr. in 1965. She was a devout Catholic, devoted wife and mother of two sons, Greg and Jeff, and worked as a teacher's aide at St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic School in Elkhart. The family lived in the upscale East Lake Estates neighborhood. She disappeared on May 8, 1985 from her home in Elkhart, Indiana, and her bludgeoned remains were found three years later on May 12, 1988, about 20 miles from her home. Authorities determined her cause of death was a massive skull fracture caused by a blow to the head and ruled it a homicide. Her killer has never been found.

Vital Statistics

Circumstances of Offense:

On the morning of May 8, Ada attended a special Mother's Day mass at her son Jeff's school. After the service, she returned home. Her niece, Susan, was in town for job interviews and visited Ada for lunch. Around 1:30 p.m., after lunch, Susan and Ada heard a loud, unfamiliar "thud" from inside the house. Concerned, they searched the house and yard but found nothing unusual. They dismissed the noise and resumed their conversation. At approximately 3 p.m., Susan left. Ten minutes later, a neighbor reported seeing Ada in her backyard speaking to an unidentified man near a blue or black four-door car parked in her driveway. The man was described as well-dressed, approximately six feet tall, and between 45 and 50 years old. At 3:20 p.m., Ada's nine-year-old son Jeff arrived home from school and found the house empty—a stark departure from the usual, as Ada was always there to greet him. Concerned, Jeff called his father, Ed, at work. Ed initially assumed Ada had gone to her mother's house but soon realized this was not the case. She was reported missing by her family that day and after an investigation by Elkhart police, they were unable to locate her.

Additional Details:

Her remains were found three years later on May 12, 1988, just north of Union in Cass County — less than 20 miles from her home. Mushroom hunters scouring an area off Birch road, north of U.S. 12, called police when they found bones along a steep hillside. Ada's wedding ring was found among her remains but police found no clothes or shoes. She had been beaten to death -- Her skull and jaw had been fractured. Where she was found, there were a couple rocks about the size of your fist or a little bigger and conceivably the pathologist said, that could have been the item used to cause the blunt force trauma. Ada was identified by her wedding ring and dental records. Mr. Haradine, Ada's husband, was a successful businessman in the Elkhart area and was eliminated as a suspect during the investigation. Mr. Haradine passed away in 1993 from a brain aneurysm. Investigators from the Elkhart County Prosecutor's Office, Indiana State Police, the Cass County Sheriff's Department and the Elkhart City Police Department reviewed the evidence and resubmitted more physical evidence to the Michigan State Crime lab with the hope that new technology can find DNA not previously able to be detected. Police initially had "persons of interest" in Ada's case. Because they took a fresh look at the case, Gizzi said they were "taking the blinders off" and looking at all possibilities. A witness told police they saw a large blue car parked outside the house and a man wearing a hat talking to Ada -- they were never able to ID that person. Police got hundreds of tips after Ada disappeared, some came from as far away as Las Vegas. The Deck Investigates, a true crime podcast hosted by Ashley Flowers, aired a season focusing on Ada Haradine in 2024.

Case Last Updated:

Oct 02, 2026