Mo. Man charged with murder of Ind. woman found fatally stabbed in 1993

A Missouri man has been charged with murder in the death of an Indianapolis woman more than 30 years after her body was found.

Dana Jermaine Shepherd is charged with two counts of murder and one count of rape in connection with a March 23, 1993, slaying in Marion County, Indiana, according to an arrest warrant obtained by PEOPLE.

Although the warrant did not identify the victim, WTHR, Fox 59 and WIBC identified her as Carmen Hope Van Huss, whose brutal murder remained unsolved for decades.

Van Huss left her father’s Indianapolis home on the night of March 22, 1993, the FBI previously reported in the case. That night, neighbors said they heard Van Huss and an unidentified man enter her apartment, according to the FBI. Two hours later, neighbors heard a loud struggle, followed by the sound of footsteps leaving the apartment and running down the hallway.

Van Huss was found dead with multiple stab wounds, the FBI said, and authorities suspected she knew her attacker. The FBI said she was likely killed with a pocketknife and a screwdriver.

Shepherd was arrested in Boone County, Missouri, where he is being held as a fugitive from justice, court records show. Indiana court records do not yet list an attorney for Shepherd, and it is unclear whether he has pleaded guilty.

Fox 59 and WTHR reported that Shepherd was identified as a suspect because DNA found in Van Huss’ apartment showed he could be linked to him.

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According to university records, Shepherd is an employee of the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri, where he works as a janitor.

“My sister was a beautiful 19-year-old art student at IUPUI,” Van Huss’ brother, Jimmy Van Huss, told Fox 59. “She was an art lover, an animal lover, she was always trapping stray cats. We really got closer and spent more time together because I was now a freshman in high school and our six-year age difference wasn’t as noticeable. She was always happy and everyone loved her.”