In this episode, retired agent Kerri Reifel reviews her work with the Fort Wayne Police Department on the investigation into the murder of 8-year-old April Tinsley, who disappeared on April 1, 1988. Her body was found three days later. The murder went unsolved for over thirty years.
Kerri worked closely with Fort Wayne PD Detective Brian Martin and others on the case for 16 years, first as an agent assigned to the Indianapolis Division and member of the Child Abduction Rapid Deployment team (CARD), and then as a certified profiler in the Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU-3) Crimes Against Children program.
Through genetic DNA testing, John Miller was identified as the murderer. He pled guilty to murder and child molesting and was sentenced to 80 years. Kerri and a BAU colleague spent two days interviewing him in prison.
“And so we thought for sure this would catch his attention. He’d probably call in. So we had prepped everyone that was going to be answering the phones. Here’s what you say if you think you may have him on the phone. In the meantime, we were out kind of re-canvassing all the neighborhoods where the notes were found, asking anyone that was willing to give a swab, a DNA swab, because we had the subject’s DNA, so he’s here somewhere.”—Retired Agent Kerri Reifel
Special Agent (Retired)
Kerri L. Reifel
5/2002 – 11/2023
Kerri L. Reifel served in the FBI for over 21 years. She began her career in the Indianapolis Field Office, where she worked on the Gang Response Task Force in the Gary Resident Agency and on the Safe Streets Task Force and the Child Exploitation Task Force in Indianapolis.
During this period, she was also a Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) field coordinator, a certified SWAT operator, and, for most of her career, a member of the Child Abduction Rapid Deployment team.
Kerri was also a certified undercover employee (UCE) across multiple crime programs and served as an operational counselor for the Safeguarding Unit.
Later in her career, Kerri became a certified BAU profiler working at the Critical Incident Response Group (CRIG) in Stafford, Virginia. She has over two decades of experience providing expert support to BAU-3 (Crimes Against Children) and BAU-4 (Crimes Against Adults) and the Behavioral Threat Assessment Center in the Counterterrorism Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU-1 where she oversaw high-risk case intake and monitoring, conducted behavioral assessments, and partnered with public- and private-sector stakeholders to intervene on pathways to violence, including active shooters, workplace violence, stalking, and ideological extremism. While assigned as a Supervisory Special Agent in the Denver Division, she further developed her expertise in threat mitigation and the disruption of targeted violence.
Kerri’s contributions have earned national recognition, including an honorable mention for the Top Cop Award for her work on the April Marie Tinsley investigation, the Medal of Excellence within the Behavioral Analysis Unit, and multiple service commendations. A sought-after speaker, she presents on pathways to violence, behavioral analysis, active shooter prevention, crimes involving children, and insider threat.
She is currently employed by Secure Community Network – Hillel International as their Director of Campus Safety and Security.
The following are news articles about the murder of 8-year-old April Tinsley and the hunt to find her murderer:
FBI Archives – 4/03/2009: Cold Case Heats Up – Help Solve 1988 Murder, Part 1
FBI Archives – 4/14/2009: Hitting the Airwaves – Help Solve Cold Case, Part 2
FBI Archives – 5/19/2009: In Search of a Killer – Help Solve Cold Case, Part 3
21 Alive News (VIDEO) – 9/4/2025 : John D. Miller, April Tinsley’s killer, dead at 66
To learn more about CARD and genetic DNA, listen to the following FBI Case File Review episodes:
352: Kelly Liberti – Cleveland Child Abduction, CARD Team
306: Steve Kramer and Steve Busch – Investigative Genetic Genealogy, Golden State Killer
307: Steve Busch and Steve Kramer – Investigative Genetic Genealogy, Cold Case Murders, Indago
Case-related Images – Credit FBI:
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