Remembering Darlene Hulse and her unsolved murder 40 years later

MARSHALL COUNTY, Ind.-- Saturday marks 40 years since the murder of Darlene Hulse, a 28-year-old Marshall County mother. And 40 years later, her case remains unsolved.

"August the 17th, 1984, the town of Argos lost its innocence," said Alan Earl of Earl-Grossman Funeral Home, the same place (at the time, just Grossman Funeral Home) where Darlene's funeral was held.

An intruder entered Darlene's family house, just outside Argos, while her husband was at work, two little girls in the bathtub, a baby at home. As the man attacked their mom, Darlene screamed her last words to her girls-- to run.

Naked and wet, the girls ran the short distance to their grandparents, who called for help, but it was too late. Darlene's body was eventually found in the woods about six miles away.

"That day, things changed," Earl said. "All the sudden, you had people that were afraid, people that weren't letting their kids out to play."

The case went cold; the killer was never named.

Kristen Rooks is Darlene's daughter. She was the baby left at home while her mom was being attacked.

"It pushes me because I want to know who, what, when, where, why, how," Rooks said. "I go through waves of frustration, and I go through waves of wanting to take action and reach out to people and try to get something done. It's very frustrating that I know that they could be doing something, but they're just not. Either they don't have the tools or the knowledge or the capability."

Rooks is frustrated, saying she doesn't get updates on her mom's case, whether from the Indiana State Police or the Marshall County Prosecutor's Office, who oversees the case.

"As far as we know, the last thing we've heard is that they're testing, but we've heard that for years," Rooks said. "So, I just don't understand why they won't call us back or just let us know something."

Rooks is fighting for answers, and several years ago she learned a partial DNA profile was collected from Darlene's clothing. It's not a full profile that could be entered into a national system.

"But what they can do is one-on-one testing with known suspects," Rooks said.

She also wants more of Darlene's items tested for DNA.

"There are avenues available today that weren't available in 1984," Earl said. "Those little girls, they're not little anymore, but those girls deserve answers, of what happened to their mom."

The case, and those calls for DNA testing, were brought to the forefront last year with The Deck Investigates podcast, hosted by Ashley Flowers, who ABC57 spoke to back in October.

"I can't imagine being in their position and having this person basically stand in the way of solving your mother's murder," Flowers said. "I don't understand why the people who are in power aren't more frustrated, I don't understand why the people in Marshall County aren't more frustrated."

Flowers says Prosecutor Nelson Chipman is the gatekeeper to the case and worries he's not acting in the best interest of the victim's family.

"The person who is in charge of making sure this gets solved doesn't seem to have the time or knowledge of this case or the resources to actually make that happen," she said.

Whether that testing is happening or not, we don't know, because Prosecutor Chipman has also denied ABC57's requests for an interview on the Hulse case.

"DNA has advanced so much, I mean, month to month, year to year," Flowers said. "I think there's so much more that can be done. So unfortunately, the next steps are in the hands of Nelson Chipman and the Indiana State Police."

"I just want to know that I've done everything that I can, that I lay my head down at night and know there's nothing else that can be done. And until I reach that point, I'm going to keep going," Rooks said.

Earl is holding a gathering at Darlene's grave Saturday between 9:15 and 9:45 a.m., the time of her attack 40 years ago.