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Missing Woman's Family Pleads For Accused Murderer To Reveal Whereabouts of Body

By Jeff Neumeyer
June 18, 2010 Updated Nov 23, 2009 at 6:19 PM EST FORT WAYNE, IN (Indiana's NewsCenter) --- Where is the body? That is the question haunting family and friends of Debra Houser. The man accused of killing the Whitley County woman made his first court appearance on Monday. Rodney Houser told Whitley County Judge Jim Heuer that he can't afford to hire his own lawyer, so the court appointed one for him. A preliminary plea of not guilty was entered on his behalf. Houser didn't have much to say on his way to court, refusing to respond when asked if he killed his ex-wife. He did at one point, however, give his love to his son. The divorced couple’s nine-year old son told police last week that his parents had fought November 17th. 49-year old Debra Houser never reported for work the next morning and hasn’t been seen since. A large-scale search over the weekend, with over 100 volunteers taking part, failed to produce signs of a body. Police say that an informant claims that Houser told him last week he'd killed his ex-wife, and that he needed help disposing of the body. Authorities did recover Debra Houser’s truck in Waynedale, and found a bag containing the woman’s bloody clothing. The sheriff says Houser isn't answering questions about Debra Houser's whereabouts. Laura Larry/Debra Houser's Stepsister: " The only thing I have to say is, if he did do this, tell us where she's at, so we can put her to rest, so we can have some sort of closure." Sheriff Mark Hodges/(R) Whitley County: " Until we get something that is concrete, that leads us in a more definitive area, we're going to suspend any further actual ground searching." That information changed somewhat in the afternoon Monday, when Sheriff Hodges put out a statement, revealing that cadaver dogs will be utilized in follow-up search efforts starting either Tuesday or Wednesday. Police have been concentrating on lakes, rivers, and streams, largely because the informant who blew the whistle on Rodney Houser claims Houser told him he dumped the body near or in water close to Debra Houser’s home outside Columbia City. Hodges acknowledges that if the body was dumped in water, police may have to rely on hunters, farmers, or landowners to make a discovery of the body at a later time, because it can take several weeks for submerged bodies to float to the surface.
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