Eleven years after a woman and child were killed in a Franklin home, solving the case remains a top priority for the police department.
Investigators still routinely check on tips and leads they receive, billboards have been placed around the county asking for information, and police take every piece of information they receive seriously.
The police department still is offering a reward of $25,000 for information that solves the case, and investigators know that one piece of information could solve the case.
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The slayings of Chynna Dickus, 26, and Blake Dickus, 10, on July 24, 2006, are personal to the Franklin Police Department, Det. Sgt. Scott Carter said.
“Most of the guys who were on the department when it occurred, it is very personal for them,” Carter said.
The police department takes it personally when someone says they haven’t done enough to solve the case, especially with the hours and sleepless nights that have gone into the investigation over the years, Carter said.
The anniversary of the killings is often a time when more interest is paid to the case, leading to some more tips coming in, but the police department still regularly gets information from the public on the case, Det. Ray Tice said.
And they want that information to continue coming in, even if people think the tip is old or something police already know about, he said.
“Any information is good information for us,” Tice said. “We take any lead seriously.”
Burglaries that happened about the time of the killings and in the area near the Branigin Woods subdivision, off U.S. 31 on the north side of Franklin, where the two were killed still are an angle the police department is investigating, but they also continue to explore other possibilities as well, Carter said.
One possible piece that could help with this case and others is the state’s new law that requires anyone arrested on a felony charge to submit a DNA sample to be kept on file, Carter said.
But police know that someone knows what happened to Chynna and Blake that day.
“Somebody somewhere knows something. Either they were a part of it or they have information on the case,” Tice said.
And they hope that person will finally come forward and give police the information they need to solve the case, police said.
“We are confident someone has the information we need to solve this case, and we won’t give up until we find it,” Franklin Police Chief Tim O’Sullivan said.
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Police are seeking tips in the murders of Chynna and Blake Dickus on July 24, 2006. Here is how to give information:
Call the Franklin police tip line at 317-346-1100.
Call Crime Stoppers and 317-262-8477.
Send Franklin police a message on their Facebook page.
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