Investigators say a tip and later DNA testing revived a decades-old case.
ATLANTA, IN — Indiana State Police arrested a former town employee and charged him with murder Thursday in the 1992 killing of Tony Bledsoe, a 24-year-old Arcadia man who vanished more than three decades ago and was later identified through DNA testing, officials said.
The arrest of Steven Andrew Emmert, 55, also known as Andy Emmert, is the second major step in a cold-case investigation that accelerated in recent years and already led to a murder charge against another suspect. Investigators and prosecutors said the new case filing brings them closer to resolving what happened after Bledsoe left home in March 1992 and never returned, leaving his family without answers for decades.
Emmert was taken into custody by an Indiana State Police SWAT team and booked into the Hamilton County Jail on a preliminary murder charge, officials said at a news conference in Atlanta, a small town in Hamilton County. Indiana State Police Sgt. John Perrine said investigators had worked for years to build the case and credited state police Lt. Josh Watson for pushing the investigation forward after a key tip helped connect the missing-person report to human remains found in Putnam County in 1992.
Court documents described a timeline that began when Bledsoe was reported missing on March 16, 1992, from his home in Arcadia. Investigators said he left driving a 1971 Oldsmobile Cutlass and was headed toward the Noblesville area. Neither Bledsoe nor the car was found at the time. Weeks later, on April 3, 1992, human remains were discovered at a dump site in Putnam County, just north of U.S. 40 near the Clay County line, authorities said. The remains were not identified for years. Investigators later used DNA testing to confirm the remains belonged to Bledsoe, comparing results with DNA from his mother, officials said.
The case moved from a missing-person investigation to a homicide inquiry after new information surfaced in 2018, Perrine said. That work eventually led to charges against Thomas “Tommy” Anderson Jr., who was arrested in May 2025 and charged with murder. According to court records summarized by investigators, Anderson later gave investigators an account that blamed Emmert as the person who killed Bledsoe during a dispute tied to stolen car stereo equipment and auto parts.
Investigators said Anderson described a conflict that started after Emmert traded stereo equipment that had been stolen from a vehicle in Wisconsin for auto parts from Bledsoe. Court records said Bledsoe learned the equipment was stolen, demanded his parts back, and threatened to contact police, leading to a feud. Anderson told investigators he and Bledsoe went to Emmert’s residence under the pretense of returning the parts. Anderson described luring Bledsoe to a duplex on Cicero Road in Noblesville, where Anderson said Emmert shot Bledsoe in the head with a rifle and then stabbed him multiple times with a fixed-blade knife, court records said.
The records outlined graphic allegations about how the body was handled after the killing. Investigators said Anderson claimed the suspects dismembered Bledsoe’s body, removing the head, hands, and feet and placing them in a bucket of concrete. They also described the torso being covered in a black substance, which investigators said matched the condition of remains found in Putnam County. Watson said details about the remains being tied up, dismembered, and covered in a dark substance were not released publicly, which investigators said helped them evaluate the credibility of later witness statements.
Investigators said the case gained momentum as they collected witness accounts and records over several years. An investigative grand jury convened in the fall of 2024, hearing testimony from multiple witnesses, including Anderson’s relatives who said he had confided details about the killing, according to court records cited by officials. Dr. Scott Wagner, the pathologist who conducted the 1992 autopsy, testified that the victim had suffered six stab wounds to the back, investigators said. Authorities said a search warrant served in October 2024 led to the recovery of a knife investigators described as matching Anderson’s account of the weapon used.
Officials also pointed to what they described as criminal activity tied to the background of the suspects. Investigators said the case file included information that Emmert and Anderson had been involved in an interstate vehicle theft operation, stealing vehicles in Wisconsin and Indiana and pursuing insurance fraud schemes. Prosecutors and police did not say Thursday whether additional charges related to those allegations are expected, and they did not detail what evidence, beyond witness statements and investigative findings, would be presented at later court hearings.
Emmert’s arrest also renewed attention on his role in local government. Officials described him as a former town employee in Atlanta who previously served as the utility superintendent and building commissioner. Emmert was terminated from his town position in May 2025, after the earlier arrest in the case brought public scrutiny, according to information released by investigators and local reporting. Prosecutors did not answer questions Thursday about whether Emmert has an attorney yet or how he plans to plead. Jail records and court scheduling information were not immediately available during the news conference.
Hamilton County Prosecutor Josh Kocher said the new arrest marks another step toward accountability in a case that stayed cold for decades. “To the victim’s loved ones, we see you, we remember you, and we remain committed to pursuing justice,” Kocher said. Investigators described family members as emotional as major developments unfolded, and officials said the case has weighed on relatives who have lived for years without knowing what happened to Bledsoe after he left home.
Authorities said the investigation required sustained work across agencies and over many years, including interviews, tips, and the use of modern forensic tools. They described the 2018 tip as a turning point that pushed investigators to revisit old records and re-check connections between the missing-person report and unidentified remains. DNA testing later confirmed the identity of the remains, and investigators said that confirmation helped them focus on new lines of inquiry and pursue warrants and sworn testimony.
The case now moves into the court system as Emmert remains held on a preliminary charge. Prosecutors are expected to seek a formal filing in court, where a judge will set an initial hearing date and address bond and other conditions. Officials did not announce a trial timetable. They also did not say whether they consider the investigation closed, though Kocher indicated authorities believe they have now identified those responsible for Bledsoe’s death.
The small town of Atlanta, north of Indianapolis, became the setting for the latest update when police and prosecutors returned there to outline what they say happened. The town’s population was about 700 at the 2020 census, and the case has circulated for years in local conversations as families waited for answers. Thursday’s announcement included praise for investigators who kept working long after the first reports were filed, with Perrine calling Watson the driving force behind the renewed push.
The allegations laid out in court records and described at the news conference are expected to face scrutiny as the case proceeds. Investigators said they relied on statements, grand jury testimony, physical searches, and forensic findings to build the case they presented to prosecutors. Authorities said their goal in reopening and advancing the investigation was to provide a clear account of what happened in March 1992 and to hold those charged responsible in court.
Author note: Last updated February 15, 2026.