This is *** huge hurdle for us to get over and we've gotten over it. They were about halfway there now for nearly 20 years. Captain Kevin Smith says he worked to figure out who killed 17 year old Laurel Mitchell after police say someone drowned her in 1975. Genealogy has changed the game investigatively that since approximately 2015 when the first case ever occurred, that has changed the game, investigators say Mitchell left work the night of August 6, 1975 and never returned home. The next day, someone discovered her body in the Elkhart River near *** boat ramp. Monday police arrested 67 year old Fred Bandy jr of Goshen and 67 year old John Wayne Lehman of Auburn. Both are charged with murder witnesses pass away memories fade. Ah, all those hurdles make it very difficult evidence is old. We looked through court documents that showed the years of work officers spent on this case before arresting Bandy and laymen. Those documents say at some point that evening, Bandy and Lehman picked Mitchell up before taking her out of the car and drowning her. An autopsy showed Mitchell made what police call *** violent struggle to survive the drowning. *** Noble County Sheriff's Department detective says he actually spoke with *** man about the case in 2019 and the man told him Bandi and Lehman admitted at *** party they killed Mitchell. Well, the rest of these individuals is an important step in this process. It is just *** step and this is not the end. This is just the beginning of the prosecution police say. DNA testing of laurel's close eventually led officers to the arrests. Meanwhile, smith says he hopes her family can heal after nearly five decades of trying to deal with this unthinkable loss. I hope this brings them at least *** little piece. At this point, I cannot imagine having dealt with that for 47 years, wondering what happened.