When a 15-year-old girl vanishes while riding her bike near Indiana Dunes National Park in August 1995, it’s all hands on deck to find her. However, just like the ever-shifting landscape beneath law enforcement’s feet, an elusive predator blends into an alarming wave of violence in northern Indiana and northeast Illinois during the summer of 1995.If you have information that could solve the murder of Johnice White, please call 1-800-CALL-FBI or submit a tip at tips.fbi.gov.View source material and photos for this episode at: parkpredators.com/the-bikeDon't forget to check out Crime Junkie's episode INFAMOUS: The Indiana Dunes Disappearances wherever you listen to podcasts! Park Predators is an audiochuck production. Connect with us on social media:Instagram: @parkpredators | @audiochuckTwitter: @ParkPredators | @audiochuckFacebook: /ParkPredators | /audiochuckllcTikTok: @audiochuck
Chapter 1: What is the background of the Indiana Dunes case?
Hi, park enthusiasts. I'm your host, Delia D'Ambra. And the case I'm going to tell you about today came to me in a unique way. My friends Britt and Ashley over on Crime Junkie did a deep dive into a notorious missing persons case at Indiana Dunes National Park in their home state of Indiana.
And in true Crime Junkie fashion, the more they learned about that case, the more rabbit holes they found, as well as other cases that needed deep dives too. So our teams joined forces this week to feature two different cases which aren't related but both happened in the same national park.
After you listen to this episode, go over to the Crime Junkie feed and check out their episode titled Infamous, The Indiana Dunes Disappearances. If you're part of the Crime Junkie fan club, it's available ad-free. Something I discovered while looking into this particular park is that prior to 2019, it was referred to as the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.
But now it's known as the Indiana Dunes National Park. It's situated on the southernmost end of Lake Michigan, very close to Illinois' border with Indiana. According to the National Park Service's website, for thousands of years, the lake's whipping winds and waves have formed and reshaped the roughly 15,000-acre park. There are wetlands, woods, prairies, and plenty of shoreline.
If you're interested in hiking, there's lots of that, too. More than 50 miles of trails. In the wintertime, the beaches in the park are covered in snow and ice, but in the spring and summer, life flourishes. Wildflowers, maple trees, and a large variety of birds showcase just some of the park's natural beauty. And in case you thought the dune part of the name was just for show, you'd be wrong.
There are actual sand dunes there, and it took decades for state legislators and activists to make sure they were protected and preserved. In August of 1995, though, something terrible happened in one of those dunes that shook northwestern Indiana and northeast Illinois residents to their core. The brutal murder of a teenage girl on her birthday devastated her family and community.
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Around 6.30 p.m. on Monday, August 7th, 1995, a woman named Johnny White was at her home in Gary, Indiana with some of her other children when she realized that her daughter, Janice, who was often referred to by the nickname China, had not come home from riding her bike. Now, this was kind of odd to Johnny because that day, the 7th, was actually Janice's birthday, like the day she turned 15.
And around 6 p.m., shortly after blowing out the candles on her birthday cake, she told her family she wanted to ride her pink and purple bike up and down their street. When she left, everyone assumed she wouldn't be gone long. But when 6.30 p.m. rolled around and dusk had settled in and Janice was still not back, that's when her mom became concerned that something wasn't right.
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Chapter 2: What were the initial events leading to Janice White's disappearance?
In exchange for admitting that he lied to the FBI about having sex with Jonas in August 1995, Barry was sentenced to 15 months in prison, followed by two years of supervision. The judge who handed down the sentence to Barry in court said, quote, What you did was stupid. I don't know how else to say it. It's important for you to be honest with federal investigators.
That being said, you're a human being, end quote. After everything was said and done, Barry wasn't required to pay restitution to any members of the White family, and he was never charged in relation to Jonas' murder. According to his inmate profile with the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, he was released from prison in August 2017.
To date, no one has been arrested or held criminally responsible for killing Jonas. I reached out to the FBI's Indianapolis field office while writing this episode, and a public information officer confirmed that the homicide case still remains active with the Bureau. Where I'm left after researching the story and all the others I mentioned in this episode is just sort of sad.
There's a part of me that feels justice was served in some of the cases, but then with Janice, I feel as if so much more could have and should have been done to get to the bottom of what happened to her.
If there's one thing that's clear, it's that she was a young, beautiful girl who had her entire life ripped away from her by a predator who I believe was intimately familiar with Gary, Indiana and Indiana Dunes National Park.
If you're listening to this episode and feel you may know something that could help bring resolution to her case or identify the true perpetrator, please reach out to me through the Park Predator social media pages and contact the FBI. You can call 1-800-CALL-FBI or submit a tip at tips.fbi.gov. The agents working her case are aware of this episode's release and are ready to receive any tips.
Park Predators is an Audiochuck production. You can view a list of all the source material for this episode on our website, parkpredators.com. And you can also follow Park Predators on Instagram, at Park Predators. So, what do you think, Chuck? Do you approve?
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