May 18, 2025 • 36 mins
"I believe it was a very personal, deliberate thing."
On 16 November 1987, the three-member Dardeen family returned to their rural home in Ina, Illinois after a weekend away. As Thanksgiving approached, 30-year-old Elaine, 29-year-old Keith, and 3-year-old Peter spent two days visiting with Elaine's family in nearby Albion. Elaine, nearing the end of her second pregnancy, expected to give birth to a baby girl named Casey in the near-future.
Days later, though, Keith was a complete no-show for work. A usually punctual and responsible man, Keith's absence was noted by his coworkers and supervisors, who began trying to get in contact with Keith and his family. This led police to the young family's home that Wednesday evening, November 18th, where they discovered a crime scene beyond this small town's comprehension...
Research, writing, hosting, and production by Micheal Whelan
Learn more about this podcast at http://unresolved.me
If you would like to support this podcast, consider heading to https://www.patreon.com/unresolvedpod to become a Patron or Producer
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/unresolved--3266604/support.
On 16 November 1987, the three-member Dardeen family returned to their rural home in Ina, Illinois after a weekend away. As Thanksgiving approached, 30-year-old Elaine, 29-year-old Keith, and 3-year-old Peter spent two days visiting with Elaine's family in nearby Albion. Elaine, nearing the end of her second pregnancy, expected to give birth to a baby girl named Casey in the near-future.
Days later, though, Keith was a complete no-show for work. A usually punctual and responsible man, Keith's absence was noted by his coworkers and supervisors, who began trying to get in contact with Keith and his family. This led police to the young family's home that Wednesday evening, November 18th, where they discovered a crime scene beyond this small town's comprehension...
Research, writing, hosting, and production by Micheal Whelan
Learn more about this podcast at http://unresolved.me
If you would like to support this podcast, consider heading to https://www.patreon.com/unresolvedpod to become a Patron or Producer
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/unresolved--3266604/support.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
This episode contains graphic content that may not be suitable
for all ages. Listener discretion is advised. If you or
someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available,
call or text nine eight eight, or chat with someone
at nine eight eight lifeline dot Org. Those outside of
the US, reach out to someone at your local crisis
(00:24):
center or hotline. Please do not suffer in silence. Southern
(00:49):
Illinois is a land of wide fields and narrow roads,
where farmland stretches for miles and small towns dot the
horizon like fading footprints. Tucked off of Interstate fifty seven,
between the cornfields and coal veins, lies the village of Ena,
a quiet place that most people pass without ever noticing.
With a population that hovers around four hundred, Ena is
(01:11):
the kind of place where everyone seems to know each
other's name, where doors were once left unlocked and the
rhythm of daily life felt untouched by the chaos of
the outside world. The area has long been home to
farming families, blue collar workers, and the occasional drifter just
passing through. In the nineteen eighties, it felt like the
sort of place people might move to for peace and calm.
(01:33):
A quiet corner of America, where you could raise a
family in stillness. But in the fall of nineteen eighty seven,
that illusion of safety was forever shattered. Something horrific happened here,
something sudden and brutal that remains completely unexplained nearly four
decades later. It is a mystery that still lingers carved
(01:54):
into the very soil of Jefferson County. This is the
story of the Dardine family. Ruby Elaine Cowling was born
(02:17):
on August tenth, nineteen fifty seven, in Fairfield, Illinois, and
was one of just four children. By all indications, she
was a normal young woman who eventually met the man
she would fall in love with, with whom she would
settle down and start a family with. Russell Keith Dardine
was a bit younger than Ruby, born on June twenty second,
nineteen fifty eight, as one of two children. Despite having
(02:40):
the first name Russell, he eventually went by his middle
name Keith, which is a bit coincidental because Elaine did
the same thing. Having grown up near Mount Carmel, a
town in southeastern Illinois. Keith's parents split up early in
his life, but he remained close with both of them.
According to a two thousand and seven article by fourteen News,
he even shared a love of true crime with his mother, Joanne.
(03:02):
Elaine and Keith met early in life, marrying in August
nineteen seventy nine, when both would have been in their
early twenties, and by all indications, the two were a normal,
happy couple that clearly loved one another. They were active
in their local Baptist church and even played in the
musical ensemble. Keith sang while Elaine played piano. The burgeoning
(03:22):
Dardeene family lived in an area just outside of Ena, Illinois,
which is an incredibly small town in southern Jefferson County,
with a population under five hundred at the time. This
story takes place in the mid nineteen eighties, but that
is what had actually drawn Keith into Elaine too. Inina,
it was quiet, but it wasn't too far away from
where Elaine's family lived in Albion, Illinois. That gave them
(03:45):
a bit of a support network as they struggled to
find work and hoped to start a family of their own.
They purchased a mobile home, renting some land from a
local farming family to begin planting some roots of their own.
Their first child, a son named Peter Sean Dardeene, was
born on July fifth, nineteen eighty four. A few years later,
in nineteen eighty seven, Elaine became pregnant with their second child,
(04:08):
who they planned on naming either Ian or Casey, depending
upon the baby's sex assigned at birth. At that point,
both Keith and Elaine had found steady employment. Keith had
begun to receive training to become a treatment plant operator
for the Red Lake Water Conservancy, and Elaine planned to
begin working as a secretary at a nearby office supply
firm in Mount Vernon, Illinois. Things seemed to be going
(04:31):
well for the Dardine family, but sadly, their joy was
anything but permanent. In nineteen eighty seven, as Keith and
Elaine eagerly awaited the birth of their second child, their
future in Ena, Illinois began to look less certain than
ever before. Keith's family would later remark that he had
(04:51):
talked about the raising crime rate in the region, with
it not being the type of environment that he wanted
to raise his children in. In particular, this raising crime
rate seemed to reference the area's shockingly high violent crime rate,
which totaled fifteen homicides over the prior two years, as
well as an untold number of assaults and sexual assaults. Understandably,
(05:12):
with a pregnant wife and two young children to think
of now, Keith began looking to the future and his
worry began to grow into paranoia. Rumor has it that
a woman approached the Dardine family's home late one night
and Keith refused a letter in to use the telephone.
In nineteen eighty seven, Keith began making plans to return
the family to Mount Carmel, where he had grown up.
(05:34):
He planned to do so even if he could not
find a job there ahead of time, with a lack
of job prospects being the thing that had compelled him
and Elaine to move to Ina, but now, according to Keith,
it just wasn't worth it. Later that year, Keith and
Elaine put their mobile home up for sale and began
making plans to head back to Mount Vernon before their
second child was born. By then, they had learned that
(05:55):
it was going to be a girl. When speaking to
his mother on the phone, Keith told her that they
were moving back to Mount Carmel in the near future.
On the weekend of November fourteenth and fifteenth of nineteen
eighty seven. As Thanksgiving approached, Keith and Elaine drove to
Albion to visit Elaine's family. They drove back that Monday,
and Elaine called her family late that evening on November
(06:16):
sixteenth to let them note they had made it back
home safely. This would be the last time that anyone
heard from the Dardine family. November eighteenth, nineteen eighty seven,
started off like any regular Wednesday in Ena, Illinois, but
that morning Keith failed to make it to work, something
(06:39):
that was very unlike him normally described as very punctual
and responsible. Keith not even making an attempt to get
in touch with his supervisor to let them know that
he was going to be late or absent was described
as being very out of the ordinary for him. But
his coworkers knew that Elaine was far along in her pregnancy,
so they wanted to give Keith a little bit of
leeway with his tardiness before raising any alarm. Supervisors at
(07:02):
the water conservancy facility attempted to call Keith at home,
but the calls rang through straight a voicemail. Hours began
to pass, Keith had still not shown up to work
or attempted to make contact. Soon it was learned that
he had not shown up on Monday to pick up
his paycheck, which was merely another notch in the strange
column at the time. Coworkers thought he had just been
(07:23):
waiting until his next day of work Wednesday to pick
up his paycheck. But here they were, and still no Keith.
The Daily Republican Register, a local newspaper, reported that a
superintendent for the water system, actually drove out to the
Dardeen family's mobile home that day in an attempt to
rouse Keith, but nobody responded to his knocks at the door.
(07:44):
Soon thereafter, supervisors started reaching out to their other family members,
including Keith's mom and dad, who were divorced but both
still lived in Mount Carmel, roughly seventy miles east. Both
of Keith's parents had no idea why he would be
absent from work without calling in. It took Keith's dad
down little convincing to begin driving out to Keith's trailer
(08:05):
in Ina, over an hour away, to check in on him.
Since Don had a spare key, he would be able
to at least get inside to see if they had
left behind a note or something, and he would meet
police there who had been called and asked to perform
a wellness check on Keith, Peter, and the pregnant Elaine.
Don Dardeen made it to Keith and Elaine's mobile home
at around six pm that Wednesday, noting upon his arrival
(08:27):
that Keith's vehicle, a red nineteen eighty one Plymouth, was missing,
but present at the scene were a couple of police
officers giving them the spare key so that they could
enter the mobile home. Inside the Dardeen family home, officers
(08:56):
would find a scene beyond their small town comprehension. Tucked
into the same bed were the bodies of thirty year
old Elaine Dardine and her son, three year old Peter.
Both had been beaten severely with a baseball bat, which
had been a birthday gift for Peter earlier that year,
and had been left to the scene. But shockingly, what
investigators also found next to those two bodies was the
(09:20):
smaller body of Keith and Delane's baby girl, who they
had planned on naming Casey. What authorities would later learn
is that while Elaine and Peter were being beaten to death,
Elaine's body had gone into labor in the process, she
ended up delivering Kasey, but sadly, Casey was found alongside
her mother and brother, having met the same violent fate,
(09:42):
likely just minutes after she was born. All three were
tucked into the same bed, but Elaine had evidently suffered
more than the others. She had been bound and gagged
with duct tape. While reporters over the years have suggested
that Elaine was raped, that has never been confirmed by
law enforcement. Notably absent from the scene, though, was the
family patriarch, twenty nine year old Keith Dardine, whose absence
(10:07):
from work had inspired this wellness check in the first place.
His car was missing from the vicinity of the trailer,
and officers immediately began searching for him throughout the area.
Because of his family's brutal and tragic end and his
absence from the scene, he undoubtedly became the top suspect
in this savage crime. Police from all over the state
were preparing to embark on an epic manhunt to find Keith,
(10:30):
but sadly they would never get the chance due to
another gruesome discovery made the very next day, on Thursday,
November nineteenth, nineteen eighty seven, residents throughout Illinois Jefferson County
(10:55):
were on edge. Even though only a few details had
made it out to the public, this was becoming the
talk of the town, and police made it clear that
they were looking for Keith Dardeene, the missing patriarch of
a family that had just been slaughtered. He, along with
his missing vehicle, were at the top of mind for
every officer heading out on duty throughout the county. A
contingent of police traveled out to Keith's mother's home in
(11:18):
Mount Vernon, learning that he had not been out there
in quite a while. That Thursday, just hours after the
bodies of a Lane, Peter, and Casey were found inside
the family's mobile home, authorities discovered Keith's red Plymouth. Surprisingly,
it had been parked outside of the police station in Benton, Illinois,
roughly eleven miles south of the Dardeen trailer. The interior
(11:40):
of the vehicle was spattered with blood, but Keith was
still nowhere to be found. Later that day, though, hunters
would make a gruesome discovery roughly a mile and a
half away from the Dardeen mobile home, across county lines
in a field in rural Franklin County. There they discovered
the body of Keith Dardeen, who had been shot three
times in the head. As police would later learn, he
(12:03):
had been killed in an apparent homicide, and based on
the status of his remains, he had likely died within
an hour of his family being killed. To make matters
even more concerning and honestly bizarre, whoever had killed Keith
had taken the mutilation of his corpse one step further.
They had severed his penis from his body, indicating to
investigators that this was either sadistic or an incredibly personal crime,
(12:26):
possibly both, the notion of which would loom large over
the investigation over the next several years. While this discovery
would raise many more questions about the deaths of the
Dardine family, it did clear up one matter, the notion
of Keith being the killer. It was evident that he
had been killed at around the same time as the
rest of his family, but it was hard to determine
(12:47):
how things had happened the way they did and why.
More after the break because the murders of Elaine, Peter,
and Casey had happened in one way County and the
body of Keith had been found in another, the jurisdiction
of this case was tricky to figure out from the jump,
but the various police agencies city, county, and state would
(13:10):
be overseen by the Illinois State Police. At the primary
crime scene, the family's home, police discovered that the back
door had been left open, providing the assailant an easy
access point. Since there was no sign of forced entry,
this looked to be the most logical entry point for
the killer. A bloody baseball bat was found at the scene,
which had been a birthday present for three year old
(13:31):
Peter Gardine. Authorities stated that this was likely the murder
weapon of the three found in the mobile home, Peter, Elaine,
and Casey, but over the years they have not released
any specific information about the gunshots to Keith's body, such
as the caliber of the rounds, the probable make of
the weapon, et cetera. At the scene, authorities reportedly found marijuana,
(13:51):
but police had refrained from labeling. At either Keith's or Elaine's,
neither were known drug users or dealers, and neither showed
signs of any drug or alcohol use before their deaths,
confirmed by poxicology testing conducted post mortem. Some have speculated
over the years that the killer may have planted the
weed there in an attempt to try and mislead investigators,
(14:12):
but that remains more of a loose theory regarding the
case than anything. All four of the Dardines are believed
to have died within an hour of each other, with
the bodies in the trailer having been deceased for approximately
twelve hours at the time of their discovery on Wednesday evening. Keith,
found the following day, had been deceased for anywhere between
twenty four and thirty six hours, situating his death at
(14:33):
around the same time as the others. The timing of
this led police to believe that the killer had likely
broken into the trailer during Tuesday evening, murdering the first
three and then leading Keith away to a secondary location
where he may have been killed or dumped. Because of
the blood spatter found in Keith's vehicle, it was hard
to determine just how exactly this series of events had
played out, whether Keith had been killed either before or
(14:56):
after his family. Whoever this killer had been to have
done a thorough job cleaning and or staging the crime scene,
not only tucking a Lane into a bed with her
two children after bludgeoning them to death with a baseball bat,
but thoroughly scrubbing away any presence of themselves, such as fingerprints, blood, hair,
et cetera. Whatever blood spatter had once been inside the
(15:17):
mobile home had been cleaned up by the killer, indicating
that they had come prepared for that in some way.
Since we know that they were armed, made evident by
the gunshot wounds to Keith's body, they had evidently come
equipped with the means to kill. It's possible they had
also come prepared to clean up any evidence of their involvement.
As investigators tried piecing together how this crime had unfolded,
(15:39):
they were struck by the more pressing question the why.
Why had someone gone out of their way to target
this quiet family of four. Why had they carried out
this crime so violently, beating a lane three year old
Peter and newborn Casey to death with a baseball bat.
Why had they taken Keith to a secondary location and
then castrated him. As I mentioned minutes ago, this crime
(16:01):
had either been carried out by someone with sadistic impulses
or by someone with a vengeful grudge against the family.
But the sad thing is that no one had anything
bad to say about the Dardene family. Whatever motive may
have existed seemed to be minuscule at best. Robbery did
not seem to be a focus for this killer, With
nothing of value missing from the scene, at least nothing
(16:22):
that friends or family of the Dardenes could point out.
Keith and Elaine had an expensive VCR and camera in
their living room, as well as some cash and items
of jewelry scrolled away throughout the home, none of which
appeared to have been touched, and it's not like this
stuff was hidden. Police found it all with a cursory search.
If this was a robbery, then the thieves had done
a terrible job of making off with anything of value.
(16:44):
Because of the crime's brutal nature, investigators began exploring the
possibility of either Keith or Elaine having an extramarital affair.
A vengeful spouse was one of the only possibilities that
seemed to likely, even though the extent to which they
would have carried out that revenge to include the children
made many police officials skeptical. Investigators even grilled Keith's friends
(17:05):
and family for proof that he had been involved in
a gay relationship outside of his marriage based solely off
the genital mutilation conducted by the killer, which certain investigators
believe suggested homosexual overtones, as recounted over a decade later
in a two thousand Chicago Tribune article. However, authorities could
find no proof that either Keith or a Lane were
(17:26):
anything but faithful to one another, nor could they find
any evidence that either had a crazy x or a
stalker of any kind, or that Keith had been gay.
There was the remote possibility that gambling may have been involved,
due to some handwritten sports scores found all over the trailer,
but this theory was disputed by family members of Keith's
who described him as an incredibly frugal individual, not the
(17:49):
type to gamble away any of the family's money. Joe
An Dardine, his mother, said that Keith often resold fifty
cent cans of soda at work to help save up
for Peter's college fund, and carefully managed the family's finances.
They found it impossible to think that he had been
gambling at all, let alone to the extent of earning
his family, and he in extremely violent death. One of
(18:10):
the last prevailing theories in this case, the one that
is perhaps the most likely, and also the most terrifying,
is that this crime was totally random, perhaps burred on
by nothing more than the location of the Dargan's mobile
home itself. Their home was located along Route thirty seven,
a state highway which was easily accessed by Interstate fifty seven.
(18:31):
It's possible that the killer or killers did not even
know who Keith or Elane were when they came upon
the home, instead deciding to take advantage of the rural,
isolated location to carry out some violent impulses. The lack
of any definitive motive would go on to plague investigators
as closure continued to elude them in this strangely violent case.
As days and weeks transformed into months and then years.
(19:13):
In the countless months following the Dardine family murders, the
entire area was on high alert, worried that whoever had
struck this young family of four could strike again. Fear
and rumor proliferated almost every conversation, and neither did much
to help with the ongoing case. Among the rumors that
began swirling during this period was a rumor that Keith
(19:34):
had not been shot in the head, but rather dragged
from a car. This seemed to stem from the fact
that coroners in two different counties had handled the investigation,
and both seemed to dispute the label of his death,
one describing the wounds that had killed Keith as a
head injury, while the other referred to it as a
gunshot wound. Another rumor was the belief that a Satanic
(19:54):
colt had been involved. This one arose when the public
learned about the gruesome nature of Elaine's beating, how she
had given birth during the violent act and had her
newborn daughter killed at the scene. As you would imagine,
the genital mutilation of Keith's body only added to those
unsubstantiated claims. It does make sense, though, why these rumors
would spread. This crime took place at the tail end
(20:16):
of nineteen eighty seven, right in the middle of the
big Satanic panic craze sweeping the nation, something that I've
touched upon in prior episodes, including in the Acid King
episode in which I detailed the Ricky Kasso case alongside
my good friend, author and director Jesse Pollock. But it
seems like this may have just been another case sloppily
linked to the craze due to nothing specific just a senseless,
(20:38):
violent crime that residents were trying to make sense of,
and a tailor made answer that at least provided some
kind of motive to the unknown perpetrator or perpetrators. It's
kind of hard to blame the residence for trying to
make sense of this crime. As was the case with
most unsolved murders, residents only received bits and pieces of information,
with investigators and police officials not even having a good
(21:00):
handle of the case themselves. Locals were understandably worried. They
wanted answers and police did not have them. Investigators were
completely stumped. There was nothing about this case that was
easily explained, and the more that they tried to figure
it out, the more mystifying it seemed to become. FBI
profilers would come out to review this case, but even
(21:21):
they agreed that this crime defied their typical analytical methods.
The specific details of the crime made any kind of
ascertainable motive hard to pin down, and the lack of
evidence left behind by the killer or killers left avoid
that police, for all their might and effort, were unable
to fill. This lack of resolution caused the public to
worry that they could be next that the killer could
(21:42):
be anyone, their coworker, their friend, their neighbor. Despite more
than thirty detectives working on the case at one point
and interviewing hundreds, if not thousands of people, investigators failed
to charge anyone with the murders in the many months
that followed. In the absence of an immediate culprit, investigators
(22:03):
in nineteen eighty seven had to consider every angle, from
the local community to wandering serial killers. Early on, the
unparalleled brutality of the crime fuelled wild speculation. Rumors of
a satanic cult were quickly dismissed by police, as the
scene lacked any of the ritualistic markers that a cult
might have left. Robbery and sexual assault were also ruled out,
(22:26):
since valuables were untouched and Elaine had not been violated.
With no clear motive, Detectives even cautioned the Dardines that
the perpetrator might turn out to be someone close to them,
a chilling thought in a small town where everyone knew
each other. Keith and Elane were a quiet, church going
couple with no known enemies, so this notion left the
(22:46):
family grasping for explanations. At one point, Keith's mother, Joanne,
voiced her own theories, wondering if someone had tried to
involve Keith in drug dealing, or if someone liked a
Lane and she wouldn't accept his advances, triggering a vengeful rage.
Yet these ideas were pure speculation, as I touched on beforehand,
(23:07):
investigators found no evidence of any drug ties, infidelity, or
a secret life that could explain such an atrocity. For
a long time, it appeared that the Dardines had been
targeted at random by a phantom killer, leaving Jefferson County
authorities with almost no suspects to pursue. As the case
went cold, attention turned to non violent offenders who might
(23:28):
fit the bill. One high profile suspect emerged over a
decade after the crime in nineteen ninety nine on Hell
Motorino Riscindez, infamously known as the railroad Killer. Rissindez, was
a Mexican serial killer who roamed the US by hopping
freight trains, often murdering victims near rail lines and sometimes
bludgeoning entire families. The Dardine's homes sat not too far
(23:52):
away from railroad tracks, and the modus operandi a family
beaten to death bore a resemblance to some of the
Railroad Killer's previous go Illinois investigators were intrigued and briefly
interested in Rascindez after his capture. However, after checking his
known whereabouts and patterns, they were never able to connect
him to the Dardeen family. With no evidence tying Riscindez
(24:14):
to Ina, that lead fizzled out. The railroad killer ultimately
had plenty of blood on his hands, but as far
as police could tell, that Dardeen family were not among
his victims. Not long after Racindez was eliminated, another notorious
drifter fell under scrutiny, this time by his own admission.
In two thousand, while on death row in Texas, serial
(24:36):
murderer Tommy Lynne Cells unexpectedly confessed that he was responsible
for the Dardeen family slaughter. Cells, a carnival worker and
transient killer, was known for crisscrossing the country and committing
brutal murders with various weapons. He often targeted strangers, even
entire families in their homes. To Jefferson County investigators starved
(24:57):
for leeds, Cell's claims seemed like a possible breakthrough by
his account, he had crossed paths with Keith Dardine at
an Illinois truck stop and been invited over for dinner,
a scenario that put him inside the Dardine home that
fateful night in nineteen eighty seven. Cells alleged that once there,
an argument ensued. In some retellings, he outrageously claimed Keith
(25:18):
propositioned him for a sexual tryst and that he quote
unquote lost it, massacring the family in a rage. To authorities,
part of Cell's story rang trueish. He described certain details
of the crime scene that weren't common knowledge, and his
violent mos certainly matched the level of carnage scene. At last,
it seemed a tangible suspect had stepped forward, one with
(25:41):
a murderous resume capable of something this horrific. Yet, as
investigators dug deeper into the confession of Tommy Lynne, Cell's
significant doubts arose. Cells already had a reputation for spinning
tall tales. Much like another infamous serial killer, Henry Lee Lucas,
Cells would offer and confessed to crimes he did not commit,
(26:02):
possibly to inflate his infamy or delay his execution. The
Dardine case began to look like another one of these
dubious confessions. When Illinois detectives pressed Tomulin Cells on specific
details that had never been made public, his story started
to falter. For example, Cells initially misidentified how Elaine's body
was positioned when found, then blurted out a correct detail
(26:25):
only after being corrected. He also insisted that he shot
Keith while Keith was seated in a particular spot in
the car, a claim disproven by the forensic evidence in
the vehicle. These inconsistencies cast serious doubt on Cell's credibility,
at least whatever was left of it. As Jefferson County
States Attorney Doug Hoffman later noted, there was a lot
(26:46):
of ambiguity in Cell's account, nothing that completely disproved as guilt,
but nothing that would confirm it either. On one hand,
Cells knew a few general facts about the case, likely
gleaned from media coverage. On the other, when quizzed about
unreported clues, he often guessed wrong. This pattern suggested that
Cells might have been opportunistically claiming credit rather than speaking
(27:10):
as an actual eyewitness. Even those officers who treated Cells
as the prime suspect acknowledged that he likely embellished his account,
a habit he had shown in other cases. Crucially, there
was zero physical evidence linking him to the Dardine murders.
There were no fingerprints, no DNA, no eyewitnesses who had
seen him in Ina or even the surrounding area. Hoping
(27:32):
to resolve the uncertainty, Illinois authorities wanted to bring Cells
to the crime scene to see if he could identify
undisclosed locations or missing evidence, but Texas officials refused to
release a death row inmate for a field visit. With
only a shaky confession and no cooperation from the state
of Texas, Illinois prosecutors were stymied. They ultimately declined to
(27:54):
charge tommylin Cells for the Dardine case, citing insufficient evidence.
In April two thousand fourteen, Tommylin Sells was executed in
Texas for a different murder. He had committed, taking any
possible secrets about Ena to his grave. This left the
Dardeen investigation officially unsolved and once again the real killer
(28:14):
at large. To this day, no other suspects have been
publicly identified in the Dardeene family murders. Local law enforcement
pursued numerous leads over the years, everything from ex cons
in the area to complete strangers passing through, but nothing
ever panned out. For a while, Tommylin Cell's confession was
the most promising break, but with its credibility and doubt,
(28:36):
the Dardine case remains a haunting question mark. Even joe
Ann Dardene, Keith's mother, who initially felt sure that Cells
was the guy, lost faith as the inconsistencies mounted. The
things he said do not match up with what I
know about Keith, she later said. Those who knew Keith
agree he was exceedingly careful around strangers, to the point
(28:57):
of refusing a young woman entry to his home when
she asked to use the phone months before the murder.
It was hard to imagine him inviting a drifter in
for dinner, especially one that he met at a truck
stop that day, as Cells claimed, Nor did friends think
Keith capable of the bizarre sexual advance that Cells alleged.
Police found no evidence of any such behavior in his background.
(29:18):
In short, the confession by Tommylnceells left more questions than answers.
As of now, the identity of the killer or killers
who slaughtered the Dardine family in nineteen eighty seven remain unknown.
The file is still open, awaiting the piece of evidence
or the stroke of luck that could finally name the
person behind this nightmarish crime. Decades later, the Dardine case
(29:54):
continues to be actively reviewed, and the passage of time
has brought new tools to the fight for justice. In
recent years, Illinois investigators have leveraged advances in forensic science
to re examine the evidence with fresh eyes. Cold case
detectives have been retesting items from the crime scene, the
baseball bat, binding's clothing, and anything that might hold a
trace of the killer's DNA, using modern techniques far more
(30:18):
sensitive than those available in nineteen eighty seven. Back then,
DNA profiling was in its infancy and required large, high
quality samples, but today's labs can detect touch DNA from
the slightest skin cells or bodily fluids. Jefferson County investigators
remain hopeful that even after all this time, something collected
in the original investigation can yield a viable genetic profile.
(30:41):
If so, it could be run through national databases or
even used in a forensic genealogy search. The same method
that identified the Golden State killer to pinpoint the killer's relatives.
So far, No public announcements have been made about a
DNA match in the Dardeine case, but the fact that
evidence is being tested with new technology is a sign
that the case is far from forgotten. Detective Captain Scott Burge,
(31:05):
who currently heads to the case, has described how massive
the file has become over time. There are twenty one binders,
each four inches thick, filled with reports, photographs and interviews.
It feels like it moves slow. Burge admitted acknowledging the
painstaking process of combing through every detail, even though he
wasn't on the force in nineteen eighty seven. He's dedicated
(31:28):
himself to reconstructing the case piece by piece. Witnesses have
been reinterviewed, old tips re evaluated, and out of state
leads checked. With the help of other agencies, the message
is clear. Authorities have not given up. Just as determined,
if not more, is Joeanne Dardine, who has spent the
last thirty seven years being the voice for her slain son,
(31:50):
daughter in law, and grandchildren. Now in her eighties, Joeanne
remains resolute. She has made it her mission to keep
the Dardene murders in the public eye. Never forget what happened.
I'll never give up never, she told reporters. In twenty nineteen,
on the thirtieth and thirty fifth anniversaries of the murders,
newspapers and television stations in Illinois revisited the story, not
(32:13):
only to recap the horror, but to remind the public
that the killer or killers have never been identified. Through
her interviews, petitions, and advocacy, Joe Anne has turned personal
grief into a public crusade for justice. In the nineteen nineties,
she even gathered over three thousand signatures to petition Oprah
Winfrey to cover the case. While the show ultimately declined
(32:36):
calling it too graphic, Joeanne pushed on getting the case
covered by America's Most Wanted in nineteen ninety eight and
later featured in several documentary specials. She has made the
message clear, we need to keep it going, and the
community has followed suit. Each year, friends and neighbors quietly
remember Keith, Elaine, Peter, and baby Casey. Some leaf flowers
(32:59):
at their graves, Others light candles or say prayers in church.
Even people who don't know them feel the loss because
this story has never stopped resonating. Despite the many years
of frustration, there is still a sense that the Dardine
case is solvable and that it will be solved. Advances
in DNA testing, renewed media coverage, and the unwavering determination
(33:21):
of those who care about this family all offer hope
someone out there knows the truth and someday they might speak.
Until then, the stories of Keith, Elaine Peter, and Casey
Dardene remain unresolved. Thank you all for listening to Unresolved.
(34:10):
I have been your host, Michael Wheeland. Research and writing
for this episode was done by myself. Funnily enough, I
actually put together an episode on this story for another
really well known podcast about four to five years ago,
and I decided to come back to it because it
horrified me so much. Hopefully I did it justice. To
learn more about this podcast, visit the Unresolved website at
(34:31):
unresolved dot me. The producers of this show, who supported
each month on Patreon are ROBERTA. Jansen, Sarah Moscartolo, Ben Crocum,
Scott Neacy, Marian Welch, Crystal Jay, Jasinda Class, Lauren Nicole
James Weiss, Alex Cologoropolis, Annie Brod, Kevin Tweedy Stephen Diaz,
(34:52):
Heather Fiddler, Anna t Ceci Marcus Mitchell, Tabitha Colvin, Trixie Fink,
and Nora or Kooya. Thank you all for your continued support.
If you get a chance, please share the podcast with
those in your life who have an interest in either
true crime or mystery. Talk about it online, make comments
on the True Crime podcast subreddit or on web Sleuths
(35:14):
stuff like that, and if you can, head on over
to Apple podcast or Spotify or wherever you're listening now
and leave the podcast a nice review. Doing so will
help others find it in the algorithm and is incredibly helpful.
If you want to go beyond that, please try and
support the show either through Patreon or even PayPal by
sending a small donation. Also, please make sure to go
over and subscribe to the newest podcast from Unresolved Productions
(35:37):
called post Truth if you want to learn why America
seems to have such a tenuous grasp on the truth
these days, check that out. Anyhow, I'll be going, but
thank you all again. Until next time. I hope you
all stay healthy, stay active, and stay safe. Take care
(36:16):
and co co co co co
This episode contains graphic content that may not be suitable
for all ages. Listener discretion is advised. If you or
someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available,
call or text nine eight eight, or chat with someone
at nine eight eight lifeline dot Org. Those outside of
the US, reach out to someone at your local crisis
(00:24):
center or hotline. Please do not suffer in silence. Southern
(00:49):
Illinois is a land of wide fields and narrow roads,
where farmland stretches for miles and small towns dot the
horizon like fading footprints. Tucked off of Interstate fifty seven,
between the cornfields and coal veins, lies the village of Ena,
a quiet place that most people pass without ever noticing.
With a population that hovers around four hundred, Ena is
(01:11):
the kind of place where everyone seems to know each
other's name, where doors were once left unlocked and the
rhythm of daily life felt untouched by the chaos of
the outside world. The area has long been home to
farming families, blue collar workers, and the occasional drifter just
passing through. In the nineteen eighties, it felt like the
sort of place people might move to for peace and calm.
(01:33):
A quiet corner of America, where you could raise a
family in stillness. But in the fall of nineteen eighty seven,
that illusion of safety was forever shattered. Something horrific happened here,
something sudden and brutal that remains completely unexplained nearly four
decades later. It is a mystery that still lingers carved
(01:54):
into the very soil of Jefferson County. This is the
story of the Dardine family. Ruby Elaine Cowling was born
(02:17):
on August tenth, nineteen fifty seven, in Fairfield, Illinois, and
was one of just four children. By all indications, she
was a normal young woman who eventually met the man
she would fall in love with, with whom she would
settle down and start a family with. Russell Keith Dardine
was a bit younger than Ruby, born on June twenty second,
nineteen fifty eight, as one of two children. Despite having
(02:40):
the first name Russell, he eventually went by his middle
name Keith, which is a bit coincidental because Elaine did
the same thing. Having grown up near Mount Carmel, a
town in southeastern Illinois. Keith's parents split up early in
his life, but he remained close with both of them.
According to a two thousand and seven article by fourteen News,
he even shared a love of true crime with his mother, Joanne.
(03:02):
Elaine and Keith met early in life, marrying in August
nineteen seventy nine, when both would have been in their
early twenties, and by all indications, the two were a normal,
happy couple that clearly loved one another. They were active
in their local Baptist church and even played in the
musical ensemble. Keith sang while Elaine played piano. The burgeoning
(03:22):
Dardeene family lived in an area just outside of Ena, Illinois,
which is an incredibly small town in southern Jefferson County,
with a population under five hundred at the time. This
story takes place in the mid nineteen eighties, but that
is what had actually drawn Keith into Elaine too. Inina,
it was quiet, but it wasn't too far away from
where Elaine's family lived in Albion, Illinois. That gave them
(03:45):
a bit of a support network as they struggled to
find work and hoped to start a family of their own.
They purchased a mobile home, renting some land from a
local farming family to begin planting some roots of their own.
Their first child, a son named Peter Sean Dardeene, was
born on July fifth, nineteen eighty four. A few years later,
in nineteen eighty seven, Elaine became pregnant with their second child,
(04:08):
who they planned on naming either Ian or Casey, depending
upon the baby's sex assigned at birth. At that point,
both Keith and Elaine had found steady employment. Keith had
begun to receive training to become a treatment plant operator
for the Red Lake Water Conservancy, and Elaine planned to
begin working as a secretary at a nearby office supply
firm in Mount Vernon, Illinois. Things seemed to be going
(04:31):
well for the Dardine family, but sadly, their joy was
anything but permanent. In nineteen eighty seven, as Keith and
Elaine eagerly awaited the birth of their second child, their
future in Ena, Illinois began to look less certain than
ever before. Keith's family would later remark that he had
(04:51):
talked about the raising crime rate in the region, with
it not being the type of environment that he wanted
to raise his children in. In particular, this raising crime
rate seemed to reference the area's shockingly high violent crime rate,
which totaled fifteen homicides over the prior two years, as
well as an untold number of assaults and sexual assaults. Understandably,
(05:12):
with a pregnant wife and two young children to think
of now, Keith began looking to the future and his
worry began to grow into paranoia. Rumor has it that
a woman approached the Dardine family's home late one night
and Keith refused a letter in to use the telephone.
In nineteen eighty seven, Keith began making plans to return
the family to Mount Carmel, where he had grown up.
(05:34):
He planned to do so even if he could not
find a job there ahead of time, with a lack
of job prospects being the thing that had compelled him
and Elaine to move to Ina, but now, according to Keith,
it just wasn't worth it. Later that year, Keith and
Elaine put their mobile home up for sale and began
making plans to head back to Mount Vernon before their
second child was born. By then, they had learned that
(05:55):
it was going to be a girl. When speaking to
his mother on the phone, Keith told her that they
were moving back to Mount Carmel in the near future.
On the weekend of November fourteenth and fifteenth of nineteen
eighty seven. As Thanksgiving approached, Keith and Elaine drove to
Albion to visit Elaine's family. They drove back that Monday,
and Elaine called her family late that evening on November
(06:16):
sixteenth to let them note they had made it back
home safely. This would be the last time that anyone
heard from the Dardine family. November eighteenth, nineteen eighty seven,
started off like any regular Wednesday in Ena, Illinois, but
that morning Keith failed to make it to work, something
(06:39):
that was very unlike him normally described as very punctual
and responsible. Keith not even making an attempt to get
in touch with his supervisor to let them know that
he was going to be late or absent was described
as being very out of the ordinary for him. But
his coworkers knew that Elaine was far along in her pregnancy,
so they wanted to give Keith a little bit of
leeway with his tardiness before raising any alarm. Supervisors at
(07:02):
the water conservancy facility attempted to call Keith at home,
but the calls rang through straight a voicemail. Hours began
to pass, Keith had still not shown up to work
or attempted to make contact. Soon it was learned that
he had not shown up on Monday to pick up
his paycheck, which was merely another notch in the strange
column at the time. Coworkers thought he had just been
(07:23):
waiting until his next day of work Wednesday to pick
up his paycheck. But here they were, and still no Keith.
The Daily Republican Register, a local newspaper, reported that a
superintendent for the water system, actually drove out to the
Dardeen family's mobile home that day in an attempt to
rouse Keith, but nobody responded to his knocks at the door.
(07:44):
Soon thereafter, supervisors started reaching out to their other family members,
including Keith's mom and dad, who were divorced but both
still lived in Mount Carmel, roughly seventy miles east. Both
of Keith's parents had no idea why he would be
absent from work without calling in. It took Keith's dad
down little convincing to begin driving out to Keith's trailer
(08:05):
in Ina, over an hour away, to check in on him.
Since Don had a spare key, he would be able
to at least get inside to see if they had
left behind a note or something, and he would meet
police there who had been called and asked to perform
a wellness check on Keith, Peter, and the pregnant Elaine.
Don Dardeen made it to Keith and Elaine's mobile home
at around six pm that Wednesday, noting upon his arrival
(08:27):
that Keith's vehicle, a red nineteen eighty one Plymouth, was missing,
but present at the scene were a couple of police
officers giving them the spare key so that they could
enter the mobile home. Inside the Dardeen family home, officers
(08:56):
would find a scene beyond their small town comprehension. Tucked
into the same bed were the bodies of thirty year
old Elaine Dardine and her son, three year old Peter.
Both had been beaten severely with a baseball bat, which
had been a birthday gift for Peter earlier that year,
and had been left to the scene. But shockingly, what
investigators also found next to those two bodies was the
(09:20):
smaller body of Keith and Delane's baby girl, who they
had planned on naming Casey. What authorities would later learn
is that while Elaine and Peter were being beaten to death,
Elaine's body had gone into labor in the process, she
ended up delivering Kasey, but sadly, Casey was found alongside
her mother and brother, having met the same violent fate,
(09:42):
likely just minutes after she was born. All three were
tucked into the same bed, but Elaine had evidently suffered
more than the others. She had been bound and gagged
with duct tape. While reporters over the years have suggested
that Elaine was raped, that has never been confirmed by
law enforcement. Notably absent from the scene, though, was the
family patriarch, twenty nine year old Keith Dardine, whose absence
(10:07):
from work had inspired this wellness check in the first place.
His car was missing from the vicinity of the trailer,
and officers immediately began searching for him throughout the area.
Because of his family's brutal and tragic end and his
absence from the scene, he undoubtedly became the top suspect
in this savage crime. Police from all over the state
were preparing to embark on an epic manhunt to find Keith,
(10:30):
but sadly they would never get the chance due to
another gruesome discovery made the very next day, on Thursday,
November nineteenth, nineteen eighty seven, residents throughout Illinois Jefferson County
(10:55):
were on edge. Even though only a few details had
made it out to the public, this was becoming the
talk of the town, and police made it clear that
they were looking for Keith Dardeene, the missing patriarch of
a family that had just been slaughtered. He, along with
his missing vehicle, were at the top of mind for
every officer heading out on duty throughout the county. A
contingent of police traveled out to Keith's mother's home in
(11:18):
Mount Vernon, learning that he had not been out there
in quite a while. That Thursday, just hours after the
bodies of a Lane, Peter, and Casey were found inside
the family's mobile home, authorities discovered Keith's red Plymouth. Surprisingly,
it had been parked outside of the police station in Benton, Illinois,
roughly eleven miles south of the Dardeen trailer. The interior
(11:40):
of the vehicle was spattered with blood, but Keith was
still nowhere to be found. Later that day, though, hunters
would make a gruesome discovery roughly a mile and a
half away from the Dardeen mobile home, across county lines
in a field in rural Franklin County. There they discovered
the body of Keith Dardeen, who had been shot three
times in the head. As police would later learn, he
(12:03):
had been killed in an apparent homicide, and based on
the status of his remains, he had likely died within
an hour of his family being killed. To make matters
even more concerning and honestly bizarre, whoever had killed Keith
had taken the mutilation of his corpse one step further.
They had severed his penis from his body, indicating to
investigators that this was either sadistic or an incredibly personal crime,
(12:26):
possibly both, the notion of which would loom large over
the investigation over the next several years. While this discovery
would raise many more questions about the deaths of the
Dardine family, it did clear up one matter, the notion
of Keith being the killer. It was evident that he
had been killed at around the same time as the
rest of his family, but it was hard to determine
(12:47):
how things had happened the way they did and why.
More after the break because the murders of Elaine, Peter,
and Casey had happened in one way County and the
body of Keith had been found in another, the jurisdiction
of this case was tricky to figure out from the jump,
but the various police agencies city, county, and state would
(13:10):
be overseen by the Illinois State Police. At the primary
crime scene, the family's home, police discovered that the back
door had been left open, providing the assailant an easy
access point. Since there was no sign of forced entry,
this looked to be the most logical entry point for
the killer. A bloody baseball bat was found at the scene,
which had been a birthday present for three year old
(13:31):
Peter Gardine. Authorities stated that this was likely the murder
weapon of the three found in the mobile home, Peter, Elaine,
and Casey, but over the years they have not released
any specific information about the gunshots to Keith's body, such
as the caliber of the rounds, the probable make of
the weapon, et cetera. At the scene, authorities reportedly found marijuana,
(13:51):
but police had refrained from labeling. At either Keith's or Elaine's,
neither were known drug users or dealers, and neither showed
signs of any drug or alcohol use before their deaths,
confirmed by poxicology testing conducted post mortem. Some have speculated
over the years that the killer may have planted the
weed there in an attempt to try and mislead investigators,
(14:12):
but that remains more of a loose theory regarding the
case than anything. All four of the Dardines are believed
to have died within an hour of each other, with
the bodies in the trailer having been deceased for approximately
twelve hours at the time of their discovery on Wednesday evening. Keith,
found the following day, had been deceased for anywhere between
twenty four and thirty six hours, situating his death at
(14:33):
around the same time as the others. The timing of
this led police to believe that the killer had likely
broken into the trailer during Tuesday evening, murdering the first
three and then leading Keith away to a secondary location
where he may have been killed or dumped. Because of
the blood spatter found in Keith's vehicle, it was hard
to determine just how exactly this series of events had
played out, whether Keith had been killed either before or
(14:56):
after his family. Whoever this killer had been to have
done a thorough job cleaning and or staging the crime scene,
not only tucking a Lane into a bed with her
two children after bludgeoning them to death with a baseball bat,
but thoroughly scrubbing away any presence of themselves, such as fingerprints, blood, hair,
et cetera. Whatever blood spatter had once been inside the
(15:17):
mobile home had been cleaned up by the killer, indicating
that they had come prepared for that in some way.
Since we know that they were armed, made evident by
the gunshot wounds to Keith's body, they had evidently come
equipped with the means to kill. It's possible they had
also come prepared to clean up any evidence of their involvement.
As investigators tried piecing together how this crime had unfolded,
(15:39):
they were struck by the more pressing question the why.
Why had someone gone out of their way to target
this quiet family of four. Why had they carried out
this crime so violently, beating a lane three year old
Peter and newborn Casey to death with a baseball bat.
Why had they taken Keith to a secondary location and
then castrated him. As I mentioned minutes ago, this crime
(16:01):
had either been carried out by someone with sadistic impulses
or by someone with a vengeful grudge against the family.
But the sad thing is that no one had anything
bad to say about the Dardene family. Whatever motive may
have existed seemed to be minuscule at best. Robbery did
not seem to be a focus for this killer, With
nothing of value missing from the scene, at least nothing
(16:22):
that friends or family of the Dardenes could point out.
Keith and Elaine had an expensive VCR and camera in
their living room, as well as some cash and items
of jewelry scrolled away throughout the home, none of which
appeared to have been touched, and it's not like this
stuff was hidden. Police found it all with a cursory search.
If this was a robbery, then the thieves had done
a terrible job of making off with anything of value.
(16:44):
Because of the crime's brutal nature, investigators began exploring the
possibility of either Keith or Elaine having an extramarital affair.
A vengeful spouse was one of the only possibilities that
seemed to likely, even though the extent to which they
would have carried out that revenge to include the children
made many police officials skeptical. Investigators even grilled Keith's friends
(17:05):
and family for proof that he had been involved in
a gay relationship outside of his marriage based solely off
the genital mutilation conducted by the killer, which certain investigators
believe suggested homosexual overtones, as recounted over a decade later
in a two thousand Chicago Tribune article. However, authorities could
find no proof that either Keith or a Lane were
(17:26):
anything but faithful to one another, nor could they find
any evidence that either had a crazy x or a
stalker of any kind, or that Keith had been gay.
There was the remote possibility that gambling may have been involved,
due to some handwritten sports scores found all over the trailer,
but this theory was disputed by family members of Keith's
who described him as an incredibly frugal individual, not the
(17:49):
type to gamble away any of the family's money. Joe
An Dardine, his mother, said that Keith often resold fifty
cent cans of soda at work to help save up
for Peter's college fund, and carefully managed the family's finances.
They found it impossible to think that he had been
gambling at all, let alone to the extent of earning
his family, and he in extremely violent death. One of
(18:10):
the last prevailing theories in this case, the one that
is perhaps the most likely, and also the most terrifying,
is that this crime was totally random, perhaps burred on
by nothing more than the location of the Dargan's mobile
home itself. Their home was located along Route thirty seven,
a state highway which was easily accessed by Interstate fifty seven.
(18:31):
It's possible that the killer or killers did not even
know who Keith or Elane were when they came upon
the home, instead deciding to take advantage of the rural,
isolated location to carry out some violent impulses. The lack
of any definitive motive would go on to plague investigators
as closure continued to elude them in this strangely violent case.
As days and weeks transformed into months and then years.
(19:13):
In the countless months following the Dardine family murders, the
entire area was on high alert, worried that whoever had
struck this young family of four could strike again. Fear
and rumor proliferated almost every conversation, and neither did much
to help with the ongoing case. Among the rumors that
began swirling during this period was a rumor that Keith
(19:34):
had not been shot in the head, but rather dragged
from a car. This seemed to stem from the fact
that coroners in two different counties had handled the investigation,
and both seemed to dispute the label of his death,
one describing the wounds that had killed Keith as a
head injury, while the other referred to it as a
gunshot wound. Another rumor was the belief that a Satanic
(19:54):
colt had been involved. This one arose when the public
learned about the gruesome nature of Elaine's beating, how she
had given birth during the violent act and had her
newborn daughter killed at the scene. As you would imagine,
the genital mutilation of Keith's body only added to those
unsubstantiated claims. It does make sense, though, why these rumors
would spread. This crime took place at the tail end
(20:16):
of nineteen eighty seven, right in the middle of the
big Satanic panic craze sweeping the nation, something that I've
touched upon in prior episodes, including in the Acid King
episode in which I detailed the Ricky Kasso case alongside
my good friend, author and director Jesse Pollock. But it
seems like this may have just been another case sloppily
linked to the craze due to nothing specific just a senseless,
(20:38):
violent crime that residents were trying to make sense of,
and a tailor made answer that at least provided some
kind of motive to the unknown perpetrator or perpetrators. It's
kind of hard to blame the residence for trying to
make sense of this crime. As was the case with
most unsolved murders, residents only received bits and pieces of information,
with investigators and police officials not even having a good
(21:00):
handle of the case themselves. Locals were understandably worried. They
wanted answers and police did not have them. Investigators were
completely stumped. There was nothing about this case that was
easily explained, and the more that they tried to figure
it out, the more mystifying it seemed to become. FBI
profilers would come out to review this case, but even
(21:21):
they agreed that this crime defied their typical analytical methods.
The specific details of the crime made any kind of
ascertainable motive hard to pin down, and the lack of
evidence left behind by the killer or killers left avoid
that police, for all their might and effort, were unable
to fill. This lack of resolution caused the public to
worry that they could be next that the killer could
(21:42):
be anyone, their coworker, their friend, their neighbor. Despite more
than thirty detectives working on the case at one point
and interviewing hundreds, if not thousands of people, investigators failed
to charge anyone with the murders in the many months
that followed. In the absence of an immediate culprit, investigators
(22:03):
in nineteen eighty seven had to consider every angle, from
the local community to wandering serial killers. Early on, the
unparalleled brutality of the crime fuelled wild speculation. Rumors of
a satanic cult were quickly dismissed by police, as the
scene lacked any of the ritualistic markers that a cult
might have left. Robbery and sexual assault were also ruled out,
(22:26):
since valuables were untouched and Elaine had not been violated.
With no clear motive, Detectives even cautioned the Dardines that
the perpetrator might turn out to be someone close to them,
a chilling thought in a small town where everyone knew
each other. Keith and Elane were a quiet, church going
couple with no known enemies, so this notion left the
(22:46):
family grasping for explanations. At one point, Keith's mother, Joanne,
voiced her own theories, wondering if someone had tried to
involve Keith in drug dealing, or if someone liked a
Lane and she wouldn't accept his advances, triggering a vengeful rage.
Yet these ideas were pure speculation, as I touched on beforehand,
(23:07):
investigators found no evidence of any drug ties, infidelity, or
a secret life that could explain such an atrocity. For
a long time, it appeared that the Dardines had been
targeted at random by a phantom killer, leaving Jefferson County
authorities with almost no suspects to pursue. As the case
went cold, attention turned to non violent offenders who might
(23:28):
fit the bill. One high profile suspect emerged over a
decade after the crime in nineteen ninety nine on Hell
Motorino Riscindez, infamously known as the railroad Killer. Rissindez, was
a Mexican serial killer who roamed the US by hopping
freight trains, often murdering victims near rail lines and sometimes
bludgeoning entire families. The Dardine's homes sat not too far
(23:52):
away from railroad tracks, and the modus operandi a family
beaten to death bore a resemblance to some of the
Railroad Killer's previous go Illinois investigators were intrigued and briefly
interested in Rascindez after his capture. However, after checking his
known whereabouts and patterns, they were never able to connect
him to the Dardeen family. With no evidence tying Riscindez
(24:14):
to Ina, that lead fizzled out. The railroad killer ultimately
had plenty of blood on his hands, but as far
as police could tell, that Dardeen family were not among
his victims. Not long after Racindez was eliminated, another notorious
drifter fell under scrutiny, this time by his own admission.
In two thousand, while on death row in Texas, serial
(24:36):
murderer Tommy Lynne Cells unexpectedly confessed that he was responsible
for the Dardeen family slaughter. Cells, a carnival worker and
transient killer, was known for crisscrossing the country and committing
brutal murders with various weapons. He often targeted strangers, even
entire families in their homes. To Jefferson County investigators starved
(24:57):
for leeds, Cell's claims seemed like a possible breakthrough by
his account, he had crossed paths with Keith Dardine at
an Illinois truck stop and been invited over for dinner,
a scenario that put him inside the Dardine home that
fateful night in nineteen eighty seven. Cells alleged that once there,
an argument ensued. In some retellings, he outrageously claimed Keith
(25:18):
propositioned him for a sexual tryst and that he quote
unquote lost it, massacring the family in a rage. To authorities,
part of Cell's story rang trueish. He described certain details
of the crime scene that weren't common knowledge, and his
violent mos certainly matched the level of carnage scene. At last,
it seemed a tangible suspect had stepped forward, one with
(25:41):
a murderous resume capable of something this horrific. Yet, as
investigators dug deeper into the confession of Tommy Lynne, Cell's
significant doubts arose. Cells already had a reputation for spinning
tall tales. Much like another infamous serial killer, Henry Lee Lucas,
Cells would offer and confessed to crimes he did not commit,
(26:02):
possibly to inflate his infamy or delay his execution. The
Dardine case began to look like another one of these
dubious confessions. When Illinois detectives pressed Tomulin Cells on specific
details that had never been made public, his story started
to falter. For example, Cells initially misidentified how Elaine's body
was positioned when found, then blurted out a correct detail
(26:25):
only after being corrected. He also insisted that he shot
Keith while Keith was seated in a particular spot in
the car, a claim disproven by the forensic evidence in
the vehicle. These inconsistencies cast serious doubt on Cell's credibility,
at least whatever was left of it. As Jefferson County
States Attorney Doug Hoffman later noted, there was a lot
(26:46):
of ambiguity in Cell's account, nothing that completely disproved as guilt,
but nothing that would confirm it either. On one hand,
Cells knew a few general facts about the case, likely
gleaned from media coverage. On the other, when quizzed about
unreported clues, he often guessed wrong. This pattern suggested that
Cells might have been opportunistically claiming credit rather than speaking
(27:10):
as an actual eyewitness. Even those officers who treated Cells
as the prime suspect acknowledged that he likely embellished his account,
a habit he had shown in other cases. Crucially, there
was zero physical evidence linking him to the Dardine murders.
There were no fingerprints, no DNA, no eyewitnesses who had
seen him in Ina or even the surrounding area. Hoping
(27:32):
to resolve the uncertainty, Illinois authorities wanted to bring Cells
to the crime scene to see if he could identify
undisclosed locations or missing evidence, but Texas officials refused to
release a death row inmate for a field visit. With
only a shaky confession and no cooperation from the state
of Texas, Illinois prosecutors were stymied. They ultimately declined to
(27:54):
charge tommylin Cells for the Dardine case, citing insufficient evidence.
In April two thousand fourteen, Tommylin Sells was executed in
Texas for a different murder. He had committed, taking any
possible secrets about Ena to his grave. This left the
Dardeen investigation officially unsolved and once again the real killer
(28:14):
at large. To this day, no other suspects have been
publicly identified in the Dardeene family murders. Local law enforcement
pursued numerous leads over the years, everything from ex cons
in the area to complete strangers passing through, but nothing
ever panned out. For a while, Tommylin Cell's confession was
the most promising break, but with its credibility and doubt,
(28:36):
the Dardine case remains a haunting question mark. Even joe
Ann Dardene, Keith's mother, who initially felt sure that Cells
was the guy, lost faith as the inconsistencies mounted. The
things he said do not match up with what I
know about Keith, she later said. Those who knew Keith
agree he was exceedingly careful around strangers, to the point
(28:57):
of refusing a young woman entry to his home when
she asked to use the phone months before the murder.
It was hard to imagine him inviting a drifter in
for dinner, especially one that he met at a truck
stop that day, as Cells claimed, Nor did friends think
Keith capable of the bizarre sexual advance that Cells alleged.
Police found no evidence of any such behavior in his background.
(29:18):
In short, the confession by Tommylnceells left more questions than answers.
As of now, the identity of the killer or killers
who slaughtered the Dardine family in nineteen eighty seven remain unknown.
The file is still open, awaiting the piece of evidence
or the stroke of luck that could finally name the
person behind this nightmarish crime. Decades later, the Dardine case
(29:54):
continues to be actively reviewed, and the passage of time
has brought new tools to the fight for justice. In
recent years, Illinois investigators have leveraged advances in forensic science
to re examine the evidence with fresh eyes. Cold case
detectives have been retesting items from the crime scene, the
baseball bat, binding's clothing, and anything that might hold a
trace of the killer's DNA, using modern techniques far more
(30:18):
sensitive than those available in nineteen eighty seven. Back then,
DNA profiling was in its infancy and required large, high
quality samples, but today's labs can detect touch DNA from
the slightest skin cells or bodily fluids. Jefferson County investigators
remain hopeful that even after all this time, something collected
in the original investigation can yield a viable genetic profile.
(30:41):
If so, it could be run through national databases or
even used in a forensic genealogy search. The same method
that identified the Golden State killer to pinpoint the killer's relatives.
So far, No public announcements have been made about a
DNA match in the Dardeine case, but the fact that
evidence is being tested with new technology is a sign
that the case is far from forgotten. Detective Captain Scott Burge,
(31:05):
who currently heads to the case, has described how massive
the file has become over time. There are twenty one binders,
each four inches thick, filled with reports, photographs and interviews.
It feels like it moves slow. Burge admitted acknowledging the
painstaking process of combing through every detail, even though he
wasn't on the force in nineteen eighty seven. He's dedicated
(31:28):
himself to reconstructing the case piece by piece. Witnesses have
been reinterviewed, old tips re evaluated, and out of state
leads checked. With the help of other agencies, the message
is clear. Authorities have not given up. Just as determined,
if not more, is Joeanne Dardine, who has spent the
last thirty seven years being the voice for her slain son,
(31:50):
daughter in law, and grandchildren. Now in her eighties, Joeanne
remains resolute. She has made it her mission to keep
the Dardene murders in the public eye. Never forget what happened.
I'll never give up never, she told reporters. In twenty nineteen,
on the thirtieth and thirty fifth anniversaries of the murders,
newspapers and television stations in Illinois revisited the story, not
(32:13):
only to recap the horror, but to remind the public
that the killer or killers have never been identified. Through
her interviews, petitions, and advocacy, Joe Anne has turned personal
grief into a public crusade for justice. In the nineteen nineties,
she even gathered over three thousand signatures to petition Oprah
Winfrey to cover the case. While the show ultimately declined
(32:36):
calling it too graphic, Joeanne pushed on getting the case
covered by America's Most Wanted in nineteen ninety eight and
later featured in several documentary specials. She has made the
message clear, we need to keep it going, and the
community has followed suit. Each year, friends and neighbors quietly
remember Keith, Elaine, Peter, and baby Casey. Some leaf flowers
(32:59):
at their graves, Others light candles or say prayers in church.
Even people who don't know them feel the loss because
this story has never stopped resonating. Despite the many years
of frustration, there is still a sense that the Dardine
case is solvable and that it will be solved. Advances
in DNA testing, renewed media coverage, and the unwavering determination
(33:21):
of those who care about this family all offer hope
someone out there knows the truth and someday they might speak.
Until then, the stories of Keith, Elaine Peter, and Casey
Dardene remain unresolved. Thank you all for listening to Unresolved.
(34:10):
I have been your host, Michael Wheeland. Research and writing
for this episode was done by myself. Funnily enough, I
actually put together an episode on this story for another
really well known podcast about four to five years ago,
and I decided to come back to it because it
horrified me so much. Hopefully I did it justice. To
learn more about this podcast, visit the Unresolved website at
(34:31):
unresolved dot me. The producers of this show, who supported
each month on Patreon are ROBERTA. Jansen, Sarah Moscartolo, Ben Crocum,
Scott Neacy, Marian Welch, Crystal Jay, Jasinda Class, Lauren Nicole
James Weiss, Alex Cologoropolis, Annie Brod, Kevin Tweedy Stephen Diaz,
(34:52):
Heather Fiddler, Anna t Ceci Marcus Mitchell, Tabitha Colvin, Trixie Fink,
and Nora or Kooya. Thank you all for your continued support.
If you get a chance, please share the podcast with
those in your life who have an interest in either
true crime or mystery. Talk about it online, make comments
on the True Crime podcast subreddit or on web Sleuths
(35:14):
stuff like that, and if you can, head on over
to Apple podcast or Spotify or wherever you're listening now
and leave the podcast a nice review. Doing so will
help others find it in the algorithm and is incredibly helpful.
If you want to go beyond that, please try and
support the show either through Patreon or even PayPal by
sending a small donation. Also, please make sure to go
over and subscribe to the newest podcast from Unresolved Productions
(35:37):
called post Truth if you want to learn why America
seems to have such a tenuous grasp on the truth
these days, check that out. Anyhow, I'll be going, but
thank you all again. Until next time. I hope you
all stay healthy, stay active, and stay safe. Take care
(36:16):
and co co co co co
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.