INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department has released a timeline detailing their missing persons investigation into Kyle Moorman and his three young children after the bodies of Moorman and the kids were found in a pond on Indy’s southwest side.
After family and friends of Kyle Moorman expressed frustration in the search efforts conducted by authorities, IMPD released a more detailed account on Wednesday stating the department intended to “answer some of the questions IMPD has received from the community about this investigation.”
Loved ones said Moorman was last seen on July 6 when he took his children fishing at a pond near Bluff Road and Troy Avenue. Family members said his phone had last been pinged to that same location at 12:48 a.m. on July 7. A bottle reportedly belonging to Moorman’s youngest child was also said to be found along the pond’s shore, according to family members.
With these details known to police, family criticized law enforcement’s delay in searching the pond located near Bluff and Troy. In fact, family members took it upon themselves to search the pond and the area around it for several days prior to a body being spotted in the water on Tuesday evening at around 7:40 p.m.
“We’ve been out here alone,” said Mariah Moorman, Kyle Moorman’s sister, on Monday evening as they searched the pond.
“Nobody (will) help us,” said Gloria Hamblen, Kyle Moorman’s aunt.
According to IMPD, however, police had conflicting information regarding the last known location of phone pings from Moorman. Credible information regarding the phone pings wasn’t received until “the afternoon or early evening Tuesday,” according to IMPD.
In IMPD’s timeline of events, detectives had been at the pond near Bluff and Troy at 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, seven hours before a body was spotted in the water and police were called back to the scene. Detectives and Aviation Units searched the pond using drones on Tuesday afternoon, police said, but nothing was located and no signs of a car entering the water were spotted.
IMPD said family members of Moorman approached detectives while they were searching the pond Tuesday afternoon and told them that they had hacked Moorman’s email and discovered his last known location was near the pond.
IMPD said detectives then scheduled for a DNR sonar boat to search the pond at 9 a.m. on Wednesday.
But even according to IMPD Tuesday was not the first time detectives heard about the phone ping linking Moorman to the pond near Bluff and Troy. Detectives were also reportedly told this on Monday when family and friends of Moorman were searching the pond and “at least six cars” from IMPD southwest district were on scene.
Officers walked the bank and saw no signs of vehicles in the water, IMPD said. A bottle and clothing were also collected as possible evidence from the pond, but IMPD said “family members could not confirm that the items were from the Moorman family.”
“The shoreline surrounding the body of water had a tremendous amount of trash and other debris near it,” IMPD said in their release.
According to the timeline released by IMPD, a missing persons report for Moorman and the children was not filed until Saturday, July 9. A family member said Moorman told him he was taking the children fishing near Wildwood Farms subdivision.
Police said detectives searched several other possible retention ponds including one near Wildwood Farms on Southeastern Avenue and another on Hunter Road called “Sloan Ditch” where recent vehicle tracks were located.
Police said they continued to look into these leads including investigating many unfounded sightings of Moorman including some from out of state. Detectives also reviewed Moorman’s cellphone records which IMPD said pointed to two possible locations on the southeast side of Indianapolis.
Ultimately, Moorman’s body was spotted by an unidentified individual in the very pond family and police walked around on Monday near Bluff and Troy. Early Wednesday, Moorman’s car was pulled out from under the surface of the pond and the body of his three young children were found within.
Police have not clarified why early reports of Moorman’s phone pinging at the pond near Bluff and Troy were not deemed credible until Tuesday.
A complete breakdown of IMPD’s investigative timeline can be found here.
