State police arrested a 61-year-old man exactly 41 years after he allegedly killed a 24-year-old man whose body was found in a rural area in December 1982.
According to a news release from Indiana State Police Sgt. Stephen Wheeles, on Nov. 4, 1982, Clifford Smith’s wife reported her husband missing. The next month, on Dec. 1, two animal trappers discovered Smith’s remains by the White River in the area of County roads 700 E. and 800 N. near Rockford.
Wheeles said Smith died from a gunshot wound to his head.
Although detectives investigated the case, no arrests were made at the time. New officials assumed the investigation throughout the years. According to Wheeles, Sgt. Kip Main has been actively investigating Smith’s death since September 2015.
Main determined that on the night of Oct. 30, 1982, Ronald Anderson was at a home on East 13th Street with Smith and others. Anderson allegedly got a gun from the home, loaded it, and left with Smith. No one had seen Smith alive since that night.
According to Wheeles, detectives obtained evidence suggesting Anderson fatally shot Smith in rural Jackson County on Oct. 31, 1982. Anderson reportedly brought the gun he used back to the 13th Street house and went to the crime scene to “hide potential evidence.”
Indiana State Police, with the help of the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office, obtained an arrest warrant for Anderson on a charge of murder. Police arrested him at his home on Halloween without incident.
Anderson was booked into the Jackson County Jail.