$5,000 offered for home invasion info

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Van Wert County Sheriff Stan Owens has announced that a $5,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest of those involved in a home invasion burglary at the Daniel Hemker residence on March 18.

Van Wert County Crime Stoppers and an anonymous donor are providing the reward money.

The burglary occurred at Hemker’s residence at 12734 Dog Creek Road shortly after midnight on March 18 when Hemker was reportedly awakened by two masked men who later stabbed the Middle Point area man, abducted him from his residence in his own 1990 Honda Accord and then drove the car, with Hemker inside, into the Middle Point Quarry.

Although bound, Hemker was able to free himself and exit the submerged vehicle through the broken rear window of the car.

The vehicle was recovered from the quarry two days later by divers under the direction of Putnam County Sheriff James Beutler.

After escaping from his vehicle, Hemker walked 2½ miles back to his residence and then called 9-1-1. He was taken to Van Wert County Hospital by the Middle Point EMS Squad and later life-flighted to Lutheran Hospital of Indiana in Fort Wayne for further treatment.

The robbery was similar to two as-yet unsolved burglaries in Mercer County, including one near Fort Recovery in which Robert Grube and his daughter, Colleen, were killed. A similar case in the Mendon area at the residence of William Fair and his wife, Kathy, is also under investigation.

Hemker described the two men who abducted him as being white, with one approximately 6 feet, 1 inch tall and weighing between 180 and 190 pounds, and the other 5-7 to 5-8 and weighing 240-250 pounds. Hemker said the vehicle the two men were driving was a dark-colored mid- to late 1990s Ford Ranger pickup truck with an extended cab and short bed.

Sheriff Owens said an anonymous letter was received by the Allen County Sheriff’s Correctional Facility containing information pertaining to the Hemker burglary, adding that detectives want to speak to the person who wrote the letter.

Anyone with information regarding the case can either call Crime Stoppers at 419.238.7867 or the Van Wert County Sheriff’s Department at 419.238.3866.