Darlene Hulse Update: DNA Petition, New Indiana Law, and Tips

The latest Darlene Hulse update: Indiana State Police have assigned Detective Arthur Smith to the 41-year-old Marshall County murder, are applying newer SNP genetic genealogy testing to cold case evidence, and renewed a public appeal for tips on the August 2025 anniversary of her death. A family-backed Change.org petition has gathered more than 160,000 signatures pressing for additional DNA testing, and a new Indiana law enacted in March 2026 creates a formal process for advanced DNA work in cases like hers.

What Indiana State Police Are Doing Now

ISP revitalized its cold case unit in early 2025 and put Detective Arthur Smith on the Hulse investigation.¹ On August 17, 2025, the 41st anniversary of the murder, the department issued a renewed call for information. “Somebody knows something,” Smith said. “It might be a family member, friend, or former associate. Please help us in finding answers for Darlene’s family and the community. They deserve it.”²

At the same time, ISP disclosed that it has started using SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism) testing on cold case evidence. The method breaks DNA into smaller fragments and compares them against genealogy databases to build family trees that can point investigators toward a suspect. Captain Kevin Smith told reporters in August 2025 that the agency had begun using SNP testing within the previous few months and was seeing “really good results.” Detective Artie Smith said lab results in one unnamed 47-year-old case had already identified a suspect using the technique.³

ISP officials have specifically named the Hulse case, along with the 1986 murder of 11-year-old Brandie Peltz, as active Marshall County investigations expected to benefit from the new capabilities. Both killings happened around the same time and in roughly the same geographic area.³

The DNA Dispute and the Petition

At some point in the long investigation, analysts obtained a partial male DNA profile from Hulse’s clothing. In 2023, podcast host Ashley Flowers devoted the first season of The Deck Investigates to the case, reporting that the partial profile from Hulse’s blouse had not been fully utilized and arguing that newer technology could produce a more complete profile from other evidence items.⁴

Working with the family, Flowers launched a Change.org petition calling on authorities to compare suspect DNA to the partial profile and to run additional testing on other evidence, including the victim’s underwear, using independent experts. The petition names Marshall County Prosecutor Nelson Chipman as the primary decision maker and has surpassed 160,000 signatures, well beyond its original 100,000-signature goal.⁵

Chipman declined interview requests but issued a statement defending his office. He said the evidence had been in the secure custody of the Indiana State Police and had undergone “extensive study” using the most advanced methods available at the time. He called claims that evidence had not been properly tested “false” and said his office remained “confident we are on the verge of a breakthrough.”⁴

New Indiana Law and Cold Case Resources

The Hulse investigation is moving forward against the backdrop of a much larger buildup of Indiana’s cold case capacity. ISP formalized a Forensic Investigative Genetic Genealogy (FIGG) unit roughly two years ago. It is staffed by four lab scientists, a genealogist, and a team of detectives supported by civilian investigators, and it sometimes uses third-party genetic genealogy services.⁶

Funding for the ISP forensic lab has risen by about 20 percent, from roughly $15 million to $18 million.⁶ The agency has reported a 50 percent increase in automated DNA batch processing and a 19 percent reduction in the state’s DNA testing backlog.⁷

In March 2026, Indiana enacted Public Law 56. It establishes a formal process for using advanced DNA testing and genetic genealogy in cold cases. Victims’ family members, law enforcement agencies, and county coroners can request testing in homicides, sex offenses, and high-risk missing person cases that have been open for more than five years with no pending charges. Qualified nonprofit organizations can facilitate and fund the testing.⁸ The Hulse case meets the law’s eligibility criteria.

What Darlene Hulse’s Daughter Is Saying

Kristen Hulse Rooks was the 11-month-old infant left behind in the home the morning her mother was taken. Now in her early forties and a mother of four, she has become the public face of the family’s campaign for answers.⁹

She never knew her mother. “I’ve heard nothing but spectacular things about her,” she told WNDU in August 2025. “What’s it like to have that real mom feeling? I just feel like I was robbed.”¹ Rooks has said the arrival of a new detective and newer DNA tools have given her the most hope she has ever felt. “Deep down I feel like somebody knows something,” she told ABC57. “Nobody can walk away with such a brutal attack, and not come home and somebody see, know something. Help somebody out. Help hide a car, help get rid of clothes. I’m just begging, please do the right thing and come forward.”⁹

The Case in Brief

Darlene Hulse was a 28-year-old mother of three. On the morning of August 17, 1984, an unidentified man forced his way into her home on 20B Road in Argos, Indiana, reportedly under the pretense of making a delivery, and attacked her in front of her children.¹⁰ Her two older daughters escaped to a relative’s house; her 11-month-old was left behind and found unharmed. A fireplace poker was missing from the home, and investigators came to believe the attacker used it to subdue Hulse before taking her.⁴

A timber surveyor found her body the next day in a wooded area on Olive Trail, between State Road 110 and 20A Road, roughly six miles west of her home.¹¹ An autopsy ruled the cause of death as blunt force trauma.¹²

The Suspect Description Still in Play

The two older Hulse children described the attacker as a white man in his mid- to late twenties, roughly six feet to six feet two inches tall, with a long face, a long nose, and blonde hair combed to the side. He was clean-shaven and wearing corduroys and a striped T-shirt.¹² Witnesses described his vehicle as a 1970s-style four-door car, greenish with visible rust, an older “boat”-style sedan, possibly a Pontiac or Oldsmobile. The vehicle has never been located, and leads pursued in Texas, Alabama, and locally in the year after the murder were all ruled out.⁴

How to Submit a Tip

Anyone with information about Darlene Hulse’s murder can contact the Indiana State Police Cold Case Hotline at 833-466-2653 or email ispcoldcase@isp.in.gov.¹²

1
WNDU. Daughter, Detectives Still Searching for Answers 41 Years After Murder of Marshall County Mother
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WISH-TV. Indiana State Police Seeking Help With 41-Year-Old Cold Case Murder of Darlene Hulse
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WSBT. Indiana State Police Use New DNA Technology to Help Solve Cold Cases
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WNDU. Michiana Unsolved Homicide: Darlene Hulse
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Change.org. Justice for Darlene Hulse
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Indiana Capital Chronicle. Indiana State Police Ramp Up Cold Case Investigations With New DNA Genealogy Team
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Forensic Magazine. State Police See 19% Reduction in DNA Backlog After Funding
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BillTrack50. Indiana HB 1248 – Public Law 56
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ABC57. Renewed Call to Public for Information in 41-Year-Old Unsolved Murder of Darlene Hulse
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Yahoo News. State Police Seek Help in Four-Decade-Old Cold Case
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Times Union Online. ISP Cold Case Investigators Ask for the Public’s Help With 41-Year-Old Cold Case Murder
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CBS News. Indiana Cold Case Murder: Darlene Hulse