Bygone Muncie: Reporting on a horrifying chapter in Muncie history

View Comments
As I grew up in Muncie, the only place my parents told me never to go to was Westside Park after dark. My folks, like many local residents, were horrified at the 1985 murders of Kimberly Dowell and Ethan Dixon in the park that fall. In the 1990s, when I was old enough to bike and later drive around our fair city, I avoided Westside Park after sundown, recalling my parents’ injunction against it.
But I don’t remember the actual murders, as I was only 5 at the time. Nevertheless, I do remember the stories that followed. By the time I was in high school, I’d heard a dozen different theories about, opinions of, and supposed insider information regarding the "real story" of the killings. These near-folklorish accounts of the tragedy, as ridiculous as they were bizarre in retrospect, became "the" narratives of the homicides. Much to my chagrin now, I accepted some of these bogus renditions as fact, falsely embracing them as accurate explanations of what happened so many years ago.

Related Keywords

Kimberly Dowell , Bethan Dixon , Joe Canan , William Jackson , Douglas Walker , Keith Roysdon , Vicki Hermansen , Muncie Map Co , Muncie Evening , Westside Park , Westside Park Murders , Most Notorious Cold Case , Muncie Star , Muncie Evening Press , Star Press , Magic City , கிம்‌பர்லீ நன்றாக செய் , ஈதன் டிக்சன் , வில்லியம் ஜாக்சன் , டக்ளஸ் வாக்கர் , விக்கி ஹெர்மன்சென் , மந்‌ஸீ வரைபடம் இணை , மந்‌ஸீ சாயங்காலம் , மேற்குப்பகுதி பூங்கா , மந்‌ஸீ நட்சத்திரம் , மந்‌ஸீ சாயங்காலம் ப்ரெஸ் , நட்சத்திரம் ப்ரெஸ் , மந்திரம் நகரம் ,