Looking For Linda's Killer: Two suspects (Part 2)
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“I have given up hope on this coming to a conclusion. It’s not going to bring her back, I know this. But, I would like to know who did this. Was there a reason? Was it a random act? Was it a revenge act?" Karen Egolf, Linda Weldy's mother, said.
One person who Egolf has yet to cross off her list is Larry Hall. Hall was sentenced to life in prison on federal kidnapping charges from 1993. He has admitted to, and been suspected of, the abductions and murders of young girls. However, Hall has never been convicted of murder.
“He did a lot of war reenactments. He was into Civil War Reenactments. And he was in the area at that time. That’s the only reason why I haven’t dropped him off the list completely. Because over at the museum in LaPorte, they do Civil War reenactments.” Egolf said. “I’m thinking it’s a possibility, but it’s not 100 percent.”
“We pretty much put Larry Hall to rest that he did not commit this crime.” Al Williamson, with the Indiana State Police, said. “We pretty much vetted out Larry Hall. He professed to a lot of crimes that he did not do. This being one of them. Our last conversation was that Larry Hall said he did not do this crime. I worked other homicides that Larry Hall said he committed that he did not commit.”
“Larry Hall like to take credit for something he didn’t do. He liked to be famous for homicides, for murders. I don’t know why he did. It was just something he wanted to do. And, at the time, if there are unsolved murders in the areas where he live or traveled, he took credit for them.” Williamson added.
Another name on Egolf's list is a man who was part of a local motorcycle club.
“One of (my) suspicions is this guy called Eskimo. And he was a member of the Sinners motorcycle gang.” Egolf said.
Egolf's boyfriend at the time, now husband, Robert Egolf, was in the process of joining the Sinners in the mid-80s.
“They had asked Robert to join the motorcycle gang. And after being in probation for a while, he decided it was not the path he wanted to take. And he turned his vest in.” She explained.
Karen and Robert Egolf both say a member named Eskimo was not happy about Robert's decision.
“It’s a very good possibility that she had been taken and murdered to get back at Robert for not joining.” She said.
Robert Egolf said Eskimo passed away a couple of years after Linda was killed. He told ABC57 that Eskimo mysteriously drowned. Robert Egolf believed other members of the motorcycle club killed Eskimo for breaking a code of violence against children.
However, we learned Eskimo's real name. It's Oliver Peek. And, while he did pass away in 1995, he died in his home, according to his obituary. Family members tell ABC57 that he had a heart attack.
Still, both Karen and Robert Egolf say their concerns about Eskimo and the Sinners were ignored by investigators.
“It was not ignored. It was looked into. The Sinners were around at that time. We had different leads that led that direction. And they were looked into. But, nothing substantiated them or indicated a motive, why the Sinners would want to do this to a 10-year-old girl. That’s not something they would do.” Williamson said. "We can't substantiate (the claims that he was killed by other motorcycle club members)."
Williamson believes the killer is someone much closer to home.
"You always look at the inner-circle first. Family members, friends, acquaintances, stuff like that.” He said.