Grand Jury Called

Authorities have a suspect in the Crystal Gayle Homister case but are calling a grand jury to determine whether there is enough evidence to bring charges against him.

A target subpoena was to be issued Tuesday, but Kosciusko County Prosecutor Charles Waggoner declined Tuesday afternoon to release the name of the suspect, a man reportedly incarcerated in the Noble County Jail on unrelated charges.

Homister's remains were found in a wooded area off CR 1050N near Syracuse on April 6 - three months after the 22-year-old from Elkhart disappeared. The burned skeleton was identified as Homister's by a Fort Wayne forensic odontologist through the use of dental records. Police recovered 85 percent to 90 percent of the skeleton and said the case is being investigated as a homicide.

Paperwork filed last week in Kosciusko Circuit Court gives a July 18 date for the grand jury to convene, and Waggoner said he expects two days of testimony that week, followed by two days of testimony the next week. Waggoner said a witness list is not yet available.

The grand jury is being called based on information garnered by local investigators. Waggoner said Detective Sgt. Tom Brindle has been working hard on the case and investigators in Elkhart County have been conducting a joint investigation.

Information as to whether the murder occurred in Elkhart County or Kosciusko County, whether Homister died at the location where her remains were found or if she was killed somewhere else and her body dumped at the site near Lake Wawasee has not been released.

Earlier-released information that Homister was supposed to testify in an armed robbery case near the time of her disappearance could not be confirmed, Brindle said.

Although the grand jury case has been numbered and filed, it is listed as "not on file" in the public access computer system in the Kosciusko County Justice Building. Waggoner has gone on vacation and could not be reached for further comment this morning.