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KOKOMO, Ind. — Police are expected to reveal new details in the arrest of a man linked to the disappearance of a Kokomo woman.
Karena McClerkin was last seen on Oct. 11, 2016. She was 18 years old. The case has remained unsolved, although police have announced the arrest of 57-year-old Flint Vincent Farmer in the case. He’s charged with murder.
McClerkin’s family said she walked into a house on S. Washington Street and never came out. The home was the site of Farmer’s apartment. Officers didn’t find her after a search; Farmer said she’d been outside in the alley but had never come inside.
According to court documents, surveillance video from a nearby Village Pantry told a different story. It showed Farmer, McClerkin and a third individual visiting the convenience store around 10 p.m. on the night of her disappearance and leaving at 10:32 p.m.
Multiple witnesses told investigators McClerkin was at Farmer’s apartment that night. Some of them recounted hearing Farmer and a woman “wrestling” in a room and others recalled the sounds a woman “being hurt.”
McClerkin may have stolen $600 from Farmer’s safe, according to a recorded phone call McClerkin’s mother provided to police. Farmer and McClerkin had also been involved in Xanax deals, witnesses told investigators.
One witness told police they saw someone who was covered up lying on Farmer’s floor on the morning of Oct. 12, 2016.
According to court documents, Farmer alluded to McClerkin’s disappearance multiple times during phone calls from prison, where he was incarcerated on a drug dealing charge. He told one person to “keep his mouth shut and not say anything” when they informed him that police hadn’t located McClerkin.
He told another woman she would “end up like her,” referring to McClerkin, if she failed to keep her mouth shut about the 18-year-old’s disappearance. He warned others against cutting deals to get out of jail, according to court documents.
Police continued to investigate the case for years. They re-interviewed key witnesses who said McClerkin had been with Farmer on Oct. 11, 2016. Others reiterated hearing a struggle that night.
On June 30, 2022, police used Luminol, a water-based solution that can detect blood that has been diluted up to 10,000 times, to check the detached garage at the S. Washington address. The Luminol test showed the floor just inside the walk-through service door had blood stains, which were collected and given to Indiana State Police for testing.
Police haven’t said if McClerkin’s body had been found and were expected to provide additional information during Wednesday’s briefing.
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