Melvin Carr

Melvin Chelcie Carr (January 5, 1915 – April 20, 1977) was an American murderer, rapist, and suspected serial killer from Indiana who accidentally killed himself after murdering three people with carbon monoxide in 1977.

Earlier crimes Carr was born on January 5, 1915, in Wheelersburg, Ohio. He worked as a construction engineer before joining the U.S. Army in 1942.

In 1947, Carr was charged with scamming a woman in a construction deal, as well as kidnapping and raping a woman who was hitchhiking in Kimball, Nebraska. In June 1949, while serving a five-year sentence for transporting a stolen car across state lines, he was diagnosed as "paranoid and a hopeless prospect for rehabilitation".

After his release, he worked as a businessman in Indianapolis, selling items imported from Mexico.

In March 1971, Carr was convicted of violating the Mann Act after he drove a 14-year-old girl to Mexico for sex. He was also suspected of raping another teenage girl around this time. After his release, he served another prison sentence for embezzlement.

Murders Around 4:00 a.m. on April 20, 1977, Carr's wife entered the garage of their Indianapolis home and discovered Melvin dead on the floor, with three people (later identified as Sandra Harris, aged 17, Karen Mills, aged 24, and Robert Mills Jr. (Karen's son), aged 2) dead in the trunk of his car. It was determined that Carr had kidnapped them at gunpoint the night prior, raped Sandra and Karen, and gassed the three with a hose connected from the exhaust pipe to the trunk.

Suspected crimes The discovery prompted police to investigate other murders in the area for which Carr may have been responsible. One suspicious case was the disappearance of Lois Williams, 35, and her daughter Karen, 17. On the night of January 25–26, 1967, Lois and Karen disappeared from their apartment in Indianapolis. Lois's vehicle was found abandoned at a service station owned by Carr with mud on the tires; no blood was found at the scene, and nothing was reported missing from their apartment.

After their disappearance, police suspected Carr's involvement and brought him in for questioning; however, he was released due to insufficient evidence. In 1977, police excavated Carr's backyard and garage in an unsuccessful attempt to locate the remains of the two women. Police also considered him a suspect in an August 19, 1975, attack on three teenage girls from Indianapolis. While hitchhiking, they were driven to a cornfield in nearby Hancock County, where they were bound, raped, and slashed.