AMANDA BACH - 19 yo - Porter Cty/ Wheeler IN

Amanda Bach was last seen leaving
her home at 10 p.m. Thursday. She was driving a 1996 gold Pontiac G6.
The vehicle was found at 3 a.m. Friday morning, broken down at County
Road 625 West and Indiana 130 in the parking lot of Dean's General Store
in Wheeler.
Bach, who has worked at Quaker Steak & Lube in Portage
for the past year and a half, graduated from Portage High School in
June. Her father, Bill Bach, said she was off from work Friday and was
spending time with her family.
"She left at 10 p.m. (Thursday) to visit a friend in Wheeler," he said Friday night.
"We
don't know precisely when she left that house. She missed her curfew at
1 a.m. We had gone on to bed and didn't know she had missed curfew. The
police found her car at 3:15 in the morning. I went there, and I knew
something was wrong," he said.
Bach said he hadn't talked to his daughter since she left the house. He said her belongings were found in the car. He said he's called her cellphone and hasn't had any response.
"She's
a responsible kid," he said. "We weren't waiting up for her. I've
talked to all of her friends. I don't know exactly what time she left
Wheeler, but it's under investigation. If anyone has any leads, we ask
them to please call the Porter County police."
Bach
is 5 foot 2 inches tall, weighs 105 pounds and has brown eyes and
brown, below-the-shoulder-length hair. She was last seen wearing a
long-sleeved gray shirt and black Capri-style pants.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Porter County Sheriff's Department at (219) 477-3000.
http://lostnmissing.posterous.com/missing-amanda-bach-19-portage-indiana

The body of a 19-year-old woman last seen Thursday was found Saturday afternoon in Union Township, Indiana.

Porter County police confirmed Amanda Bach's body was
found Saturday afternoon. A family friend told ABC7 the body was found
in a retention pond, but police say that was not the case. The Porter
County Sheriff's office has scheduled a press conference for Sunday afternoon.
"We have reason to believe that foul play was
involved with her death and investigators will be working into the night
on the investigation," police said in a statement released Saturday night.
Bach's car was found Friday morning in Wheeler, Indiana, right next to
Hobart. Police say they want to talk to one of her friends.
The 19-year-old was last seen leaving her home to visit a friend around 10 p.m. Thursday night.
Witnesses say Bach's car had a flat tire, the driver side door was
open and the keys were in the ignition. Bach's belongings were also in
the vehicle, but her cell phone was not.
Saturday afternoon, Amanda Bach's friends and family, along with some people from her
Facebook community, frantically looked for her.
Bach graduated from Portage High School in June and had plans to go to college.
The Indiana State Police and the FBI have joined in the investigation.
http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news%2Flocal%2Findiana&id=8358349

An 18-year-old man is awaiting murder charges after being arrested in
connection with the death of his ex-girlfriend. Bloomington Police
arrested Dustin McCowan on Sunday on Indiana University’s campus.

The
body of 19-year-old Amanda Bach was was discovered a few miles from her
vehicle and about 300-yards from the man’s home in Wheeler, Ind. in the
northeastern part of the state. The flashers were left on, the car had a
flat tire, the driver’s side door was ajar, and Bach’s purse was left
inside, according to the Porter County Sheriff’s office.

Porter County Sheriff’s office spokesperson Sgt. Larry LaFlower says
as of Monday morning no charges have been filed against McCowan, but he
is expected to be charged with murder.

“He has not been formally charged yet. However, that will be forthcoming today or tomorrow,” LaFlower said.

It is still unclear how McCowan was affiliated with Bloomington, but police say it is possible he was visiting IU students.

IU police Chief Keith Cash says they took McCowan into custody near
the end of the IU football game in the McNutt Hall parking lot.

“We went to a couple locations we thought he would be, found the
vehicle and started watching the vehicle and that’s when we got him when
he was coming to his car,” Cash said.

McCowan is in the Porter Country jail awaiting charges.

Police say some sort of trauma played a role in Bach’s death, but the
official cause will not be released until after an autopsy is
performed.
http://indianapublicmedia.org/news/murder-charges-expected-male-arrested-bloomington-20602/

Murder charges are pending against an 18-year-old man who investigators
believe is responsible for the death of a young woman whose body was
found by searchers over the weekend in northwestern Indiana.

Porter County Sheriff David Lain said Indiana University police took the man into custody in Bloomington, where he was visiting friends on a long-planned trip. He is not believed to be a student there.

Police said the man was an acquaintance of 19-year-old Amanda Bach of Portage.
She was last seen by her family Thursday night when she went to visit the man.

The Times and the Post-Tribune reported Bach's body was found Saturday afternoon on railroad property not far from her
abandoned car, about 300 yards from the man's home. Her car's emergency flashers wre on and the driver's side door was hanging
open, said Porter County Sheriff’s Sgt. Larry LaFlower.

Her purse, belongings and identification were inside the vehicle, he said.

Police did not release how Bach was killed, and an autopsy is pending. The man
was jailed in Porter County, awaiting the filing of criminal charges.
Bach, of the 5500 block of Orchard Avenue in Portage, knew the man being questioned, Lain said.

Bach was first reported missing during the early morning hours on Friday, after she did not return home. She
was last seen on Thursday, when she had gone to meet the suspect, LaFlower said

Sheriff’s police started their investigation into her disappearance on Friday, and at noon on Saturday a search party set
out to find Bach. Her body was found at about 3:45 p.m., LaFlower said.

The body has signs of trauma, Lain said. He declined to comment on whether there were signs of sexual assault.

“Everyone in Amanda’s family loved her very much. She was too beautiful for this world, and we will miss her very much,” said her uncle Dr. Carlos Cespedes.
http://www.fox59.com/news/wxin-man-arrested-at-iu-in-connection-to-portage-teens-death-20110919,0,3631739.column

Hearing held, details released in Bach death investigation

Posted: Tuesday, September 20, 2011 12:45 pm

VALPARAISO | Dustin McCowan will spend at least the next five months in Porter County Jail, awaiting trial in the murder of 19-year-old Amanda Bach.
Dressed in an orange jumpsuit, McCowan, 18, appeared before Judge Mary Harper via closed circuit video from the jail Tuesday.
During his initial hearing, Harper advised McCowan of his rights and entered a preliminary not guilty plea on his behalf. Harper told McCowan he and his legal counsel have 20 days to enter a formal plea.
During the hearing, McCowan said only "Yes, ma'am," and "Yes, your honor," when Harper asked if he understood his rights and the charges against him. He also stated that his family has hired an attorney to represent him, though none was on record.
If convicted, McCowan could face up to 65 years in prison, Harper said.
After the hearing, Chief Deputy Prosecutor Matt Frost said that at this time the case does not qualify for the death penalty, but that could change as the investigation progresses.
"It's a horrible, tragic crime," Frost said.
McCowan's next hearing is scheduled for Nov. 1, with a jury trial tentatively set to begin Feb. 1.
In court documents released about an hour before McCowan's hearing, prosecutors and Porter County sheriff's police outlined the events leading to McCowan's arrest.
When contacted by police early Friday after Bach's car was found abandoned outside Dean's General Store on Ind. 130 in Wheeler, McCowan told police the two had been together from 11 p.m. until about 1:30 a.m., when Bach went home.
McCowan told police he asked Bach to text him when she got home, but she never did. He said he tried several times to call her, but according to court documents, his phone records indicated he called her phone just two times, both back to back at 4:36 a.m.
On Friday afternoon, police talked to McCowan's neighbor, who told a detective that between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. Friday she was awakened by voices outside her home.
She told police she heard a male voice say, "Amanda get up, come on, get up, Amanda, get up."
The neighbor told police she then heard what she thought was a female voice say, "I can't believe this is happening."
The neighbor said she looked out her window, but saw no one.
Police would not comment on whether anyone besides McCowan is being investigated.
Court documents also indicate that McCowan on Friday morning visited Mike Rosta, a guidance counselor at Wheeler High School. Rosta told police that McCowan didn't "seem to be himself and wanted to know what he should do regarding the fact that Amanda Bach was missing and and he was the last to see her."
Rosta told police he suggested McCowan go to Bach's family to see how he could help. Rosta later learned through a series of text messages from McCowan that he had gone to Bloomington and was curious as to how the search for Bach was going.
Also Friday afternoon, Porter County police met with McCowan's father, Elliott McCowan, at his home on County Road 625 West in Union Township, just south of where police found Bach's car.
According to court documents, Elliott McCowan told police he was working midnights as a Crown Point police officer and his son was home alone.
An unidentified girl later told police she was with McCowan between 4 and 7 a.m. Friday, when McCowan's father reportedly came home, picked his son up and took him for a short drive.
Police and volunteers launched an extensive search for Bach and just before 4 p.m. Saturday, a Union Township resident and two Valparaiso police detectives found her body 294 yards from McCowan's home on Canadian National Railroad property.
A black flip-flop belonging to Bach was found between McCowan's home and her body.


Read more: http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/porter/wheeler/article_ac099126-b876-561e-bebe-170e93c80786.html#ixzz1Ybe37Lgb

Case timeline

Thursday
10 p.m. | Amanda Bach leaves her Portage home, telling her father she's going to a Hobart-Merrillville area bowling alley with her cousin.
11 p.m. | Bach arrives at McCowan's home to play video games and watch a movie, according to McCowan.
11:30 p.m. | A female acquaintance sends a text message to McCowan asking if she can come to his house. She told police McCowan said he wasn't home.
Friday
1 to 2 a.m. | McCowan's neighbor reportedly hears a commotion coming from the McCowan home and hears a male voice and a female voice.
1:21 a.m. | A text message is received on Bach's cell phone, sent from McCowan's cell phone. Police said it was the last message opened.
1:30 a.m. | Bach leaves the McCowan home, according to McCowan.
1:30 a.m. | McCowan reportedly begins texting another female acquaintance, asking if he can spend the night at her house after he finishes some laundry. The acquaintance said the request was denied.
2:15 a.m. | A newspaper delivery driver reports stocking a rack outside Dean's General Store in Wheeler, about two miles north of the McCowan home. The driver said the parking lot was empty at the time.
3:23 a.m. | Police are called to Dean's General Store after the owner reports an abandoned car with a flat tire outside the store.
3:25 a.m. | Porter County sheriff's police arrive and find the car with its hazard lights activated, a tire flattened, the driver's side door wide open and Amanda Bach's purse inside. Bach's father is called and comes to the scene.
4 a.m. | An unidentified girl arrives at McCowan's home, according to the girl.
4:36 a.m. | Two back-to-back calls are made to Bach's cell phone from McCowan's cell phone.
7 a.m. | McCowan's father reportedly arrives home from work, picks up his son and drives north in his Crown Point Police Department vehicle, toward the Canadian National Railroad tracks, according to an unidentified girl.
7:50 a.m. | McCowan and the unidentified girl meet with a guidance counselor at Union Township Middle School.
3 p.m. | Police speak with McCowan's father, who advises his son is in Bloomington, visiting friends.
9 p.m. | Dustin McCowan's father denies police access to search his home and property. A judge later issues a search warrant.
Saturday
3:32 p.m. | A Union Township Middle School guidance counselor reportedly receives a series of text messages from McCowan in Bloomington, asking about the search for Bach.
3:55 p.m. | Valparaiso police begin searching the Canadian National Railroad property on County Road 625 West near the County Road 350 North bend and find Amanda Bach's body, 294 yards from McCowan's home. Police also locate one of Bach's flip-flops halfway between the McCowan property and the location of the body.
Source: Porter County Superior Court documents
Funeral information

Visitation for Amanda Bach will be from 3 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Nativity of Our Savior Catholic Church, 2949 Willowcreek Road, Portage. A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated beginning at 10 a.m. Friday, also at Nativity. Cremation will follow.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Amanda Bach Memorial Fund established at Harris Bank.
Related Documents

Related: Affidavit in the Amanda Bach homicide


Read more: http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/porter/wheeler/article_ac099126-b876-561e-bebe-170e93c80786.html#ixzz1YbeHYBF0

Trial date set in Bach homicide
Updated: September 26, 2011 9:46PM
Judge William Alexa has retained the week of Jan. 30 for the trial of the man charged with murdering 19-year-old Amanda A. Bach.

Alexa had received the case for Dustin E. McGowan, 18, on Sept. 21 after Judge Mary Harper recused herself from the case because McCowan’s family hired Robert Harper as his attorney. Robert Harper is Judge Harper’s ex-husband, and she regularly recuses herself from cases he represents.

McCowan was scheduled to appear before Alexa on Friday, but Alexa set new dates while his attorney was there, and McCowan is scheduled to appear in court Nov. 18 for a status hearing and Dec. 23 for a pretrial hearing.

Bach was last known to be at McCowan’s home on Sept. 15 before she disappeared.

http://posttrib.suntimes.com/news/crime/7893927-418/porter-county-courts-roundup.html

Subpoena issued for cellphone records in Bach case

VALPARAISO | A subpoena has been issued for records from cellphones belonging to 19-year-old Amanda Bach and the father of her accused killer, Dustin McCowan.
According to documents filed in Porter Superior Court, police and prosecutors are requesting records for a cellphone belonging to Joseph Elliott McCowan, Dustin McCowan's father. He is a Crown Point police officer.
The subpoena includes the locations of cellphone towers used to relay the device's signal and any call or text messaging records from Sept. 2 through Sept. 20.
Crown Point Police Chief Pete Land said the cellphone in question is not McCowan's department-issued phone and the officer has been off duty since his son's arrest, using personal time.
Sgt. Larry LaFlower, Porter County Sheriff's Department public information officer, said Joseph Elliott McCowan is not considered a person of interest at this time in the investigation, but he was interviewed by detectives.
A judge issued the same cellphone records request for Bach's cellphone and a similar request earlier for Dustin McCowan's phone. In court documents, detectives and prosecutors state the location of Bach's cellphone still is unknown.
Bach, a 2011 Portage High School graduate, was found shot to death along the Canadian National railroad tracks in Union Township on Sept. 17, a day after her car was found abandoned in the parking lot of a Wheeler convenience store.
McCowan, 18, a former boyfriend, was arrested and charged with her murder. Through his attorney, McCowan has maintained his innocence. He remains at Porter County Jail awaiting trial.


Read more: http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/porter/wheeler/article_982c35cb-8050-50d5-a091-42dac2904c2b.html#ixzz1agkOK1wP

McCowan trial delayed until August

VALPARAISO | The Jan. 30 trial for murder suspect Dustin McCowan has been postponed until Aug. 13 to allow the defense more time to prepare.
McCowan, 19, is accused of murdering his former girlfriend Amanda Bach, 19, who was found shot to death Sept. 17 about 300 yards from McCowan's house in Union Township.
Porter Superior Judge Bill Alexa granted the defense's request for the delay Wednesday and set aside 10 days for the trial.
Defense attorney Bob Harper said he was provided with the first round of discovery Dec. 15 and has been told by prosecutors most of the lab reports have not yet been returned from the FBI.
"The defense cannot be adequately prepared to defend the defendant on this matter in the time left," Harper argued.
Alexa denied McCowan bond last month after police revealed a large amount of evidence they said links McCowan to the crime.


Read more: http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/porter/valparaiso/mccowan-trial-delayed-until-august/article_bf41dbbb-ac9d-5424-ad09-9cb9567f1a47.html#ixzz1hk5eDDku