NOBLE COUNTY, Indiana — It's been more than 47 years since Laurel Jean Mitchell's body was found in the waters of western Noble County, Indiana.
Over five decades later, and with the help of numerous detectives, Indiana authorities have arrested two men in connection to the young girl's cold case.
Indiana State Police and the Noble County Sheriff's Department arrested Fred Bandy Jr., 67, and John Wayne Lehman, 67, in connection to Mitchell's death.
Both men are charged with one count of murder and are being held at the Noble County Jail without bond.
On Aug. 6, 1975, the 17-year-old girl left from work at the Epworth Forrest Church Camp at North Webster Lake but never made it home, police said.
Mitchell's parents reported her missing and the next morning, on Aug. 7, her body was found in the water 17 miles to the northeast of North Webster at the Mallard Roost public access site in western Noble County.
Her cause of death was listed as drowning and an autopsy report showed signs that she had fought for her life, according to ISP.
Decades after her death, Indiana authorities finally made a break in the case.
While authorities did not disclose what evidence led police to make arrests in the investigation, they said ISP laboratory personnel made "an evidentiary correlation which led investigators to the two suspects."
"Science finally gave us the answers we needed," ISP Captain Kevin Smith said at a press conference on Tuesday. "We simply could not have solved this case without [the Indiana State Police Laboratory Division]."
Smith also thanked the media for covering the cold case and keeping the public informed for so many years, saying many residents came forward with valuable information that was "key to solving this case."
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