On a cold February night in 1981, Juanita Boyd was last seen leaving Snyder’s Corner Tavern in LaPorte, Indiana. She never made it home. For a week, her family and law enforcement searched roads, fields, and wooded stretches, hoping for any sign of her or her car.
That search ended on February 28, when a Michigan City police officer found her green 1970 Pontiac Catalina stuck in the mud just off Forrester Road. Inside the trunk was Juanita. She had been strangled and stabbed.
The investigation was immediate and intensive, but no suspects were named. Conflicting details in early reporting left unanswered questions, and over time, the case grew cold. In 2013, the LaPorte County Sheriff’s Office reopened the file, sending preserved evidence to the Indiana State Police Crime Lab in hopes that modern DNA technology could reveal new leads.
In our latest episode of A Heavy Weight, we explore the case from every angle — the night out, the search, the discovery, the investigation, and the re-examination decades later. We look at what’s known, what remains uncertain, and how patterns in homicide by strangulation might intersect with Juanita’s case.
Her story is not just about an unsolved murder. It’s about a woman whose life was taken, a family left without answers, and the truth that cold cases are never truly closed. They wait — for science, for memory, for someone to speak.
If you know anything about Juanita Boyd’s death, contact the LaPorte County Sheriff’s Office Detective Bureau.
Phone (Toll Free): 800.548.5374
Phone (La Porte): 219.326.7700
Phone (Michigan City): 219.879.3530
