With an autopsy set for Wednesday morning in Washington County, sheriff’s deputies and the Indiana State Police hope to find answers as to the identification and cause of death for a body found in the woods near Little York.

Until then, police are still looking for leads relating to the case of a missing Washington County man that led them to find the body on Monday.

Police had been searching for Skyler Naugle, 35, who had been reported missing on Saturday, July 21 but had not been seen since the previous Monday. 

Although Goodin said earlier today in a press release there is a “good probability” the body found was that of Naugle, he said during a press conference this afternoon at the Sellersburg Post that police can’t report if the body they found is male or female, clothed or not – until there is an autopsy to reveal lots of information. 

“We do not know the cause of death. Don’t know exactly who it is,” said Goodin. “We have to maintain the crime scene. We don’t know what evidence we’re looking for until the autopsy is completed. We’re calling it a death investigation. We can’t reveal how we found the body or where we found the body. [We’re] hoping to get a lot of answers from the autopsy…we have a lot of questions.

Goodin said police found the body Monday while searching for Naugle. The body was so decomposed police couldn’t identify the body or tell what the cause of death was. 

“We don’t know how the body was so decomposed,” said Goodin. “The pathlogist will have to answer that. We’ve had several 100 degree days. We’ve had wind and rain. The unfortunate fact is that we haven’t been able to make a 100 percent identification to make those notifications to family members. We have to deal in facts. In 100 percentiles. Unless we can absolutely say who this is, we’re going to wait.”

Goodin did ask those living in the Little York area to be vigilent, keep their doors locked and report any suspicious activity to police. 

The Washington County Sheriff’s Department can be reached at 812.883.5999 and the Indiana State Police – Sellersburg Post can be contact at at 1.800.872-6743. 

MISSING PERSONS REPORT

According to Washington County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy, the case started out last week as a missing person’s report. 

Deputy Brent Miller said the family contacted the sheriff’s department on Saturday to report Naugle missing. 

“We began to check around the county,” said Miller. “We’ve been working with the Pekin Town Marshall, Conservation Officers and Salem Police Department….All working together.” 

Police turned up Monday at a house on 7707 East New Cut Road in Little York.

According to ISP Sgt. Jerry Goodin, police knew that Naugle was acquainted with the people there and had gone there in search of clues to his whereabouts.

“We think they were acquaintances,” said Goodin during the press conference. “There is nothing out of the ordinary on why he was there. We went there because we knew they were acquaintances.”

As officers began speaking with an occupant of the property they gained enough information to believe Naugle had been to the property before he went missing.

At this point, police obtained permission to search the property from an owner and they also obtained a search warrant. 

“We can’t say where the body was found” said Goodin. “It was in a huge wooded area. The home is built inside a wooded area. We’re staying away from specific location.”

NAUGLE’S CRIMINAL PAST

During the conference, Miller said Naugle was known to local law enforcement. 

“We have never worked a missing person case on [Naugle],” said Miller. “We do know him. It’s a small community. Everybody knows everybody. Skyler has had a couple of run ins with the law in the past.”

Looking up Naugle’s record, he had been arrested several times for theft. 

• December 30, 2003 – Burglary, theft, habitual offender.
• December 12, 2009 – Robbery resulting in serious bodily injury, robbery – defendant armed, habitual offender. 
• April 11, 2016 – Washington County, arrested for possession of marijuana, possession of paraphernalia, maintaining a common nuisance, habitual offender. 
• August 4, 2016 – Washington County, arrested for possession of paraphernalia.
• October 24, 2016 – Washington County, arrested for theft and charged as an habitual offender. 
• November 10, 2016 – Washington County, theft.
• February 2, 2017 – Jennings County, arrested for two counts of burglary and two counts of theft
• January 10, 2017 – Washington County, arrested on three counts of auto theft, with habitual offender enhancement, maintaining a common nuisance.

Naugle also had four infractions in Scott County, one in Floyd County and one in Allen County. 

Members of the Washington County Sheriff’s Department and Indiana State Police Detectives have been looking for a 35-year-old missing Washington County man and Monday morning found a body that could be that of Skyler Naugle, who was reported missing on Saturday, July 21 by family members.

While waiting on an autopsy, police are still following leads in their search for Naugle. 

However, according to ISP Sgt. Jerry Goodin, “there is a good possibility that the found body is that of Naugle however, until an autopsy is performed and positive identification is made nothing can be determined.”

Police received information that Naugle had visited 7707 East New Cut Road in Little York. 

Police say Naugle was last seen on Monday July 16th in the early morning hours in the Little York area of Washington County. 

Monday morning, the Washington County Sheriff’s Department requested assistance from detectives from the Indiana State Police Post at Sellersburg in searching for a missing person around the Little York area of Washington County. 

As part of their search for Naugle, officers visited 7707 East New Cut Road in Little York.

As officers began speaking with an occupant of the property they gained enough information to believe Naugle had been to the property before he went missing.

At this point they obtained permission to search the property from an owner and they also obtained a search warrant. 

While searching the property officers located a body in a wooded area near the home.

The body was not recognizable enough to prove an identity and an autopsy is planned for Wednesday in Washington County, to determine an identity and cause of death. 

Naugle is a white male, 35 years of age, 5’-7” tall, brown hair and brown eyes, (a photo is attached).

This investigation is a death investigation. After the autopsy and a confirmation of the cause of death is made this status could obviously change. 

Anyone with information regarding the missing person Skyler Naugle or the body found is encouraged to contact the Indiana State Police at 1-800-872-6743 or the Washington County Sheriff’s Department at 812-883-5999. 

The Washington County Coroner’s Office and Prosecutor’s Office are assisting in the investigation.

This investigation is continuing. 

Indiana State Police Superintendent Doug Carter recently promoted Senior Trooper Charles Johnson to the Indiana State Police South Zone SWAT Team.

Johnson is a Perry County native, and 10 year veteran of the Indiana State Police. Johnson graduated from the 68th Indiana State Police Recruit Academy on December 21st, 2007. After graduating the Recruit Academy, Johnson was assigned to the Jasper Post, where he has patrolled primarily Perry County for the majority of his career.

During his 10 years of service, Johnson has achieved numerous certification. 

Specialties

• Field Training Officer
• Tactical Intervention Platoon (Riot Squad)
• Defensive Tactics Instructor
• Indiana Law Enforcement Academy Instructor
• Marijuana Eradication Coordinator

Indiana State Police Jasper Post Commander, Lieutenant Jason Allen says “Senior Trooper Johnson will be an asset to the SWAT Team and will continue to serve the citizens of Indiana well in his new assignment.” 

Before joining the Indiana State Police, Senior Trooper Johnson spent three years serving as a Corrections Officer for the Indiana Department of Corrections. Johnson was also a firearms instructor during his time with IDOC. 

Johnson, has served as the Perry County Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge # 137 President for the previous 5 years. The FOP participates in numerous community events throughout the year, which includes sponsoring a week long kid’s camp where kids spend time with police officers in the outdoors.

Monday at approximately 5:55 pm, troopers from the Indiana State Police Post at Sellersburg responded to a crash involving a semi-tractor and trailer on Interstate #65 South at the 19 Mile Marker, (closest town Henryville).   

 When officers arrived they found the semi-tractor and trailer fully engulfed in fire with the driver trapped inside. The Monroe Township Volunteer Fire Department was on the scene and extinguished the vehicle and trailer fire.

The preliminary investigation revealed for an unknown reason the driver left the roadway on the West side of the road. The semi-tractor and trailer then struck a tree and caught fire.

It is unknown if the driver died before, during or after the crash.

At this time, it is unknown what caused the crash and the driver is unidentified.

The semi was a 2012 Freightliner hauling a load of dairy products.

Interstate #65 South at the crash site had one lane open. Drivers were urged to use alternate routes.

This investigation is continuing.

Story by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Lindsay A. Preston

Naval History and Heritage Command, Communication and Outreach Division

INDIANAPOLIS – The Director of the Naval History and Heritage Command as well as one of the command’s historians joined the survivors of World War II cruiser USS Indianapolis (CA 35) and their families for a luncheon at the Columbia Club of Indianapolis July 20.

As part of the annual reunion of the USS Indianapolis Survivors Organization, Rear Adm. Sam Cox, U.S. Navy (Retired) and Richard Hulver, Ph.D. participated in a panel discussion about the past year’s many developments in the history of the ship.

“It’s always important to remember the valor and sacrifice of the men and women who served in the U.S. Navy and paid the ultimate price for the freedom we have today,” said Cox. “This is an example of a ship that did its duty, was lost in action and it was a very tragic event. Even in the midst of tragedy there was extraordinary courage that needs to be remembered and this is an opportunity to do that.”
During the luncheon Cox presented the survivors who were able to attend with certificates of appreciation for their service with color photo copies of their own handwritten statements taken by the board of inquiry in the aftermath of the ship’s loss.

It has been an eventful year in the history of the storied World War II cruiser which, in its final mission before being sunk, delivered to Tinian components of the Hiroshima atomic bomb that would ultimately help end the war in the Pacific.

First, armed with information developed from research conducted by Hulver that changed the Navy’s understanding of where the ship went down, a team of civilian researchers led by entrepreneur and philanthropist Paul G. Allen announced Aug. 19, 2017 they had found the ship’s wreck. In the days that followed, Allen’s team shared with the world stunning images of the remarkably well-preserved wreck that solved one of the enduring mysteries of the war – where was the ship’s final resting place.

“The U.S. Navy retains possession of all ships above and below the surface of the ocean,” said Cox. “This wreck is a property of the U.S. Navy and we have a responsibility for knowing where it is and the condition of the ship. The discovery of the wreck in a location that was about 35 miles from the official sinking position is a significant development and helps us correct a historical record of what happened during that event.”

Then in March, Hulver collaborated with Indianapolis historian and filmmaker Sara Vladic on a paper that settled the number of Sailors and Marines who sailed with the ship when she departed the U.S., the number who lost their lives after she was torpedoed, and the number who survived the ordeal.

“The story of the Indianapolis is a 73-year-old event and we’re still learning new things from that event today,” said Hulver. “It’s important to continue research on events from the Navy’s past because it’s the foundation for what the Navy is built on.”
A Portland-class heavy cruiser, Indianapolis served President Roosevelt as ship of state, and Admiral Raymond Spruance as the 5th Fleet flagship in WWII. She fought through several campaigns, earning ten battle stars. The ship’s final top secret final mission was to carry parts of the first atomic bomb used in combat to a U.S. air base on Tinian. Just a few nights later, shortly after midnight on July 30, the ship fell prey to a Japanese submarine.  

In the next 12 minutes of fire and chaos, about 330 of the ship’s crew went down with the ship as it quickly sank, while the rest, approximately 880 men, would be left alone in the Pacific in the middle of the night. For the next five days, without food or water, suffering exposure, dehydration, drowning, and shark attacks, the crew battled the elements and clung to life as best they could before they were finally rescued.

In the wake of the ship’s discovery, the long-held belief by some reemerged that a flaw existed in the Navy’s 1945 official, final crew accounting conducted immediately following the ship’s loss. In its accounting, the Navy, the Court of Inquiry, and the ship’s commanding officer Capt. Charles McVay believed that 316 survived the sinking. Later, other organizations came to believe that number was 317.

Clarence Donnor, a Sailor who had been listed on Indianapolis’ final sailing list as a passenger, had appeared on various other lists over the years. Later, other researchers discovered that Donnor’s Navy career continued until the summer of 1946, according to a muster roll from the Abnaki class fleet ocean tug USS Chimariko (ATF 154), leading them to believe he had lived through the sinking and was the 317th survivor.

In order to get to the bottom of the issue, Cox ordered a review of the personnel accounting, and assigned Hulver to carry it out. Hulver and his colleagues at NHHC checked and cross-checked the lists that were created by the ships that performed rescue operations, the hospitals that treated the survivors, and the board of inquiry which obtained recollections from the crew. They confirmed that Donnor’s name was on the sailing list, but not on any survivor list or hospital list. It was then that the Sailor’s service record was obtained from the National Archives’ National Personnel Records Center.

Donnor’s file indicates that within hours of arriving on Indianapolis, his notice of acceptance into an officer training program arrived with orders to report to Fort Schuyler, N.Y. Amid the chaos of the ship’s hurried redeployment, Donnor’s arrival onboard was apparently recorded, but his hasty departure overlooked. Thus, when the paper records were reconstructed, he remained on the final crew list resulting in a complement of 1,196—one man too many.

“The most rewarding experience from researching the Indianapolis was being able to help give closure to the crew,” said Hulver.
As a result of Hulver’s research the final numbers for Indianapolis are:
•       1195 Sailors and Marines sailed on the ship’s final voyage,
•       879 were lost when she was sunk, and
•       316 were eventually rescued.
But the number that matters most now is 14.  That’s the number of Indianapolis Sailors still alive today.

“The discovery of the ship was a great day and a day I had been looking forward to for 72 years,” said Harold Bray, an Indianapolis survivor. “Reunions like this are important to me because I can see my old friends and talk with survivors that are still left.” 

“Even in the worst defeats and disasters there is valor and sacrifice that deserves to never be forgotten,” said Cox. “They can serve as inspiration to current and future Sailors enduring situations of mortal peril. There are also lessons learned, and in the case of the Indianapolis, lessons re-learned, that need to be preserved and passed on, so the same mistakes can be prevented, and lives saved.”

The Naval History and Heritage Command, located at the Washington Navy Yard, is responsible for the preservation, analysis, and dissemination of U.S. naval history and heritage. It provides the knowledge foundation for the Navy by maintaining historically relevant resources and products that reflect the Navy’s unique and enduring contributions through our nation’s history, and supports the fleet by assisting with and delivering professional research, analysis, and interpretive services. NHHC is composed of many activities including the Navy Department Library, the Navy Operational Archives, the Navy art and artifact collections, underwater archeology, Navy histories, nine museums, USS Constitution repair facility and the historic ship Nautilus. 

For more news from Naval History and Heritage Command, visit www.history.navy.mil.

–NHHC–

NOTE TO MEDIA:  For additional information about naval history, please contact the Naval History and Heritage Command’s Communication and Outreach division at 202-433-7880 or via email at NHHCPublicAffairs@navy.mil

180720-N-GK939-0038 (July 20, 2018) 
https://www.dvidshub.net/image/4576812/180720-n-gk939-0038 
Guests bow their heads for the blessing during the 2018 USS Indianapolis reunion at the Columbia Club of Indianapolis, July 20. As part of the annual reunion of the USS Indianapolis Survivors Organization, Rear Adm. Sam Cox (Ret.), Director of Naval History and Heritage Command, and Richard Hulver, Ph.D. participated in a panel discussion about the past year’s many developments in the history of the ship. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Lindsay A. Preston/Released)

180720-N-GK939-0095 (July 20, 2018) 
https://www.dvidshub.net/image/4576820/180720-n-gk939-0095 
Richard Hulver Ph.D. speaks during the 2018 USS Indianapolis reunion at the Columbia Club of Indianapolis, July 20. Hulver collaborated with Indianapolis historian and filmmaker, Sara Vladic on a paper that settled the number of Sailors and Marines who sailed with the ship when it departed the U.S., the number who lost their lives after it was torpedoed and the number who survived the ordeal. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Lindsay A. Preston/Released)

180720-N-GK939-0067 (July 20, 2018) 
https://www.dvidshub.net/image/4576832/180720-n-gk939-0067 
Rear Adm. Sam Cox (Ret.), Director of Naval History and Heritage Command, presents a certificate of appreciation during the 2018 USS Indianapolis reunion at the Columbia Club of Indianapolis, July 20. During the luncheon Cox also presented the survivors who were able to attend with color photo copies of their own handwritten statements taken by the board of inquiry in the aftermath of the ship’s loss. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Lindsay A. Preston/Released)

180720-N-GK939-0074 (July 20, 2018) 
https://www.dvidshub.net/image/4576815/180720-n-gk939-0074 
Rear Adm. Sam Cox (Ret.), Director of Naval History and Heritage Command, right, presents Arthur Leenerman, an Indianapolis survivor, with a certificate of appreciation during the 2018 USS Indianapolis reunion at the Columbia Club of Indianapolis, July 20. During the luncheon Cox also presented the survivors who were able to attend with color photo copies of their own handwritten statements taken by the board of inquiry in the aftermath of the ship’s loss. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Lindsay A. Preston/Released)

180720-N-GK939-0079 (July 20, 2018) 
https://www.dvidshub.net/image/4576818/180720-n-gk939-0079 
From the left, Kristen Leenerman, Arthur Leenerman, an Indianapolis survivor, and Greg Leenerman look at a certificate of appreciation presented by Rear Adm. Sam Cox (Ret.), Director of Naval History and Heritage Command during the 2018 USS Indianapolis reunion at the Columbia Club of Indianapolis, July 20. During the luncheon Cox also presented the survivors who were able to attend with color photo copies of their own handwritten statements taken by the board of inquiry in the aftermath of the ship’s loss. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Lindsay A. Preston/Released)

180720-N-GK939-0069 (July 20, 2018) 
https://www.dvidshub.net/image/4576813/180720-n-gk939-0069 
Harold Bray, left, an Indianapolis survivor, looks at his certificate of appreciation presented by Rear Adm. Sam Cox (Ret.), Director of Naval History and Heritage Command during the 2018 USS Indianapolis reunion at the Columbia Club of Indianapolis, July 20. During the luncheon Cox also presented the survivors who were able to attend with color photo copies of their own handwritten statements taken by the board of inquiry in the aftermath of the ship’s loss. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Lindsay A. Preston/Released)

180720-N-GK939-0012 (July 20, 2018) 
https://www.dvidshub.net/image/4576800/180720-n-gk939-0012 
Chief Jack Barnes (Ret.), left, and Jim Jarvis, an Indianapolis survivor, pose for a photo during the 2018 USS Indianapolis reunion at the Columbia Club of Indianapolis, July 20. As part of the annual reunion of the USS Indianapolis Survivors Organization, Rear Adm. Sam Cox (Ret.), Director of Naval History and Heritage Command, and Richard Hulver, Ph.D. participated in a panel discussion about the past year’s many developments in the history of the ship. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Lindsay A. Preston/Released)

80-G-490311
https://www.history.navy.mil/news-and-events/multimedia-gallery/news-photos/80-G-490311.html 
Admiral Raymond Spruance, Commander, U.S. Fifth Fleet, awards a Purple Heart to RM1c Joseph Moran and his fellow survivors of the loss of USS Indianapolis (CA-35) at Base Hospital #18 Guam. The other two Sailors pictured are BGM3c Glenn Morgan (left) and S1c Louis Bitonti (right). Because survivors were initially taken to Samar and Peleliu, they did not know the fate of many shipmates until they were all finally consolidated at Guam.  Photo released 15 August 1945, likely taken around 13 August. (U.S. Navy photo/Released)

180307-N-NO147-001
https://www.history.navy.mil/news-and-events/multimedia-gallery/news-photos/180306-N-NO147-001.html 
Personnel file photo of RT2c Clarence William Donnor who was mistakenly believed to have been aboard USS Indianapolis (CA-35) when she was sunk by a Japanese submarine 30 July 1945. (U.S. Navy photo/Released)

NH 73655
https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/photography/numerical-list-of-images/nhhc-series/nh-series/NH-73000/NH-73655.html 
USS Indianapolis (CA-35) at Tinian 26 July 1945, following the successful delivery of atomic bomb components. (U.S. Navy photo/Released)

19-N-86915
https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/photography/numerical-list-of-images/nara-series/19-n/19-N-80000/19-N-86915.html 
USS Indianapolis (CA-35) at the Mare Island Navy Yard after her final overhaul, 12 July 1945. Circles on photo mark recent alterations to the ship. Note stripped Cleveland class light cruiser in the right background, with YC-283 alongside. (U.S. Navy photo/Released)

19-N-86913
https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/photography/numerical-list-of-images/nara-series/19-n/19-N-80000/19-N-86913.html
Bow-on view of USS Indianapolis (CA-35), taken off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 10 July 1945, after her final overhaul. (U.S. Navy photo/Released)

19-N-86911
https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/photography/numerical-list-of-images/nara-series/19-n/19-N-80000/19-N-86911.html
USS Indianapolis (CA-35) off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 10 July 1945, after her final overhaul and repair of combat damage. (U.S. Navy photo/Released)

NH 53230
https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/photography/numerical-list-of-images/nhhc-series/nh-series/NH-53000/nh-53230-uss-indianapolis–ca-35-.html 
USS Indianapolis (CA-35) at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, circa 1937. (U.S. Navy photo/Released)

Rear Adm. Samuel J. Cox, U.S. Navy (Retired) (https://drive.google.com/open?id=1imtg7BshKwQ9-7off1_SnwbuEzL-7DUY) serves as the director of the Naval History and Heritage Command and Curator of the Navy.  He is responsible for the Navy’s museums, art and artifact collections, the research library, 150 million pages of archives, and for collecting and interpreting U.S. Naval history throughout the world. Entering the Navy from Hoffman Estates, Illinois, he graduated with distinction from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1980, winning the Trident Scholar Prize for his independent research project “U.S. Foreign Policy and Naval Strategy in China, 1945-1950,” as well as the prize for the history major with the highest standing. In his 37-year naval career, Cox served as an intelligence officer, retiring in November 2013, as the senior naval intelligence community leader and from both command of the Office of Naval Intelligence and as director of the National Maritime Intelligence-Integration Office.  Cox became the 14th director and Curator of the Navy on Dec. 29, 2014.  The office was established in 1944 and after a series of mergers and name changes, became the Naval History and Heritage Command in 2009.

Richard Hulver, Ph.D. (https://drive.google.com/open?id=1C609z0ecWfhkaf3AHH8VHhjN5M83aDf7) is a historian at the Naval History and Heritage Command. He has previously worked as a historian for United States Southern Command, the American Battle Monuments Commission, and the U.S. Army Chief of Staff’s Iraq War Study Group. He has written extensively on U.S. WWI and WWII military commemorations. He is the subject matter expert on USS Indianapolis at NHHC and is the author of the forthcoming documentary history covering the loss of the ship, A Grave Misfortune: The USS Indianapolis Tragedy (GPO, 2018).

Thursday a little after noon, Scott County Sheriff Deputies responded to a single vehicle accident at State Road 3 and 56 near Frog Pond Road. 

The driver of vehicle ran off the roadway, struck a tree, and the vehicle ignited on fire.  

Prior to deputies arrival, a trucker put the vehicle fire out. 

Passerby’s pulled the driver out of the vehicle and waited with him until deputies and medical units arrived. 

Driver of the vehicle sustained injuries and was transported to University of Louisville Hospital.  Extent of driver’s injuries are unknown at this time. 

Police arrested a 28-year-old Scottburg woman for stealing money and prescriptions.

Courtney Brewer, 28, of 694 East Marshfield Road, Scottsburg, IN, turned herself in to the Indiana State Police Post at Sellersburg after Probable Cause was presented this morning by the Scott County Prosecutor’s Office in the Scott County Circuit Court.

Sgt. Tracy Spencer from the Indiana State Police Post at Sellersburg was assigned to investigate the possible wrong doings and discovered Courtney Brewer, an employee at the doctor’s office, allegedly stole monies and controlled substance prescriptions.

The stolen monies totaled approximately $80,000.00 in U.S. Currency and there were over ten controlled substance prescriptions stolen and fraudulently written to her.

She was arrested on the following charges: Corrupt Business Influence, Level 5 Felony; Fraud on a Financial Institution, Level 5 Felony; Forgery (2 counts) Level 6 Felony; Theft (5 counts), Level 6 Felony; Prescription Forgery (12 counts); Level 6 Felony and Theft (6 counts), Class A Misdemeanor. She was incarcerated at the Scott County Jail awaiting her first court appearance.

The arrest was the result of a nearly ten month long investigation that was initiated when a local Scottsburg medical doctor noticed possible prescription fraud within his practice.

After noticing the possible prescription fraud he then noticed what appeared to be fraudulent transactions in his bank statements and other funds.

This investigation is continuing.