Authorities arrested a man Wednesday in connection with a cold case murder of a woman last seen in Forest Park more than 33 years ago.
The body of 23-year-old Mary Louicile Willfong was found by deer hunters near I-75 in Monroe County on Nov. 21, 1989, according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office. An autopsy revealed that she was sexually assaulted, and her cause of death was strangulation.
Investigators received tips that Willfong was last seen getting into a tractor-trailer with a suspect at a farmers market in Forest Park. DNA samples were taken from several suspects, but they failed to match the DNA taken from the victim, and the case went unsolved for decades.
In March 2019, the Monroe sheriff’s office decided to reopen the case and submit the original evidence to the GBI Crime Lab due to new technology. DNA taken from the scene led investigators to 59-year-old Indiana resident Larry Padgett, authorities said.
After finding out where he worked, local police and the FBI obtained DNA from Padgett, which matched DNA taken from the body of Willfong, authorities said. Arrest warrants were issued and sheriff’s office investigators drove to Loogootee, Indiana, and arrested him Wednesday.
“While in Indiana, investigators were able to obtain more evidence in the case linking Padgett to the murder of Mary Willfong,” the sheriff’s office said.
Padgett is being held in Indiana until a waiver of extradition is signed, authorities added.
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