Lack of clues angers slain woman’s family

Note: Originally published on Dec. 24, 1996

City, county, federal agencies struggle with six-month-old case

IDAHO FALLS - Desperate for answers and angry at police, Angie Dodge’s friends and family wonder why her killer has not been found.

Dodge, 18, was murdered six months ago in her apartment, and police are still searching for clues that might lead to the killer.

For Dodge’s family, the first holiday season without her is difficult, as was her birthday. She would have turned 19 last Saturday. Her family placed an angel on her grave to mark the date.

“There’s not a day that goes by that it doesn’t eat you alive,” said Carol Dodge, Angie’s mother.

Dodge wants to keep her daughter’s murder on the community’s mind until the killer is caught, but she does not know where to begin.

“What do we do? Where do we go?” she asked. “I can’t think what to do.”

Dodge distributed 2,500 fliers around town, touting the $5,000 reward for tips that lead to the killer. But so far only about 40 tips have come to Crime Stoppers and none has led to anything.

Her frustration is aimed in particular at the Idaho Falls Police Department.

“It makes you wonder what they’re doing, if they’re doing anything,” Dodge said.

She said the police give her little information. She hired a private investigator three months ago, but police will not work with him.

“They’re just not qualified,” Dodge said. “These people who are detectives are street cops that have been promoted.”

Police say they sympathize with what the family is going through.

“If it was your daughter that was dead, you’d think the same thing,” Police Chief Kent Livsey said.

The Idaho Falls Police Department has involved the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Department, the FBI, the state Department of Law Enforcement and two separate crime labs in the investigation. Livsey said the city’s detective captain will take the case to the FBI Academy for review in January.

They have looked into homicides around the state to see if there is a link with Dodge’s death and have conducted more than 30 DNA tests on possible suspects, Livsey said.

Police also have profiled the neighborhood, tracking down known sex offenders and even peeping toms and clearing them all, Livsey said.

“When the new leads come in, there will be a burst of energy,” he said, “but there’s not a lot you can do in the down times.”

Chris Merrill, 19, said Angie was his only local friend when he moved to Idaho Falls from Indiana. He feels the police are running friends and family in circles.

“Somebody knows something,” Merrill said. “Just don’t be scared. Step forward and you’ll be protected.”