The Muncie city park where two teenagers were shot and killed in 1985 in Indiana's most prominent unsolved double murder.
2400 W McGalliard Rd, Muncie, IN 47304
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Free public park
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Wheelchair OK
Flat public park with paved paths and grassy areas
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Photos OK
Indiana's most prominent unsolved teenage double murder · Active cold case since 1985 · Subject of Indiana Historical Society Press book (2021) · Covered on Crime Junkie podcast
On the evening of September 17, 1985, two students from Muncie Northside High School — Ethan Dixon and Kimberly Dowell — were found shot to death inside a parked car at Westside Park in Muncie, Indiana. Both were teenagers. The case was immediately classified as a double homicide; investigators developed suspects over the years but no one was ever charged. The murders became one of Indiana's most prominent cold cases.
Westside Park is a public city park managed by Muncie Parks. The parking area where the shooting occurred remained in public use after the crime, and the park continued to operate as a recreational space for the community. The contrast between the park's ordinary public character and the severity of what happened there is a recurring theme in accounts of the case.
The murders received renewed national attention in 2021 when Indiana Historical Society Press published 'The Westside Park Murders: Muncie's Most Notorious Cold Case,' a book-length examination of the crime and investigation. The Crime Junkie podcast also dedicated an episode to the case, bringing it to an audience well beyond Indiana. As of 2026, the case remains open.
Sources
Cold cases acquire a particular gravity when they involve teenagers and an open question of who is responsible. The 1985 Westside Park murders in Muncie check both conditions. Ethan Dixon and Kimberly Dowell were killed at a public park, in a city of moderate size, and the investigation that followed produced no conviction. That unresolved accounting is the engine that keeps the case circulating in Indiana true-crime culture.
The Crime Junkie podcast episode on the murders — titled 'INFAMOUS: The Westside Park Murders' — introduced the case to a national audience. Crime Junkie draws millions of listeners per episode, and its treatment of the Muncie murders brought the park renewed attention from out-of-state researchers and true-crime travelers.
The Indiana Historical Society Press book, published in 2021, represents a more formal effort to document what happened and what the investigation did and did not establish. Its publication by an academic press signals that the case has accumulated enough documented material to support serious historical treatment. For visitors, the park itself offers no formal memorial or marker — it remains an active recreational space, which gives it an uncanny quality that defined crime sites often carry.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
Visit the public park where Ethan Dixon and Kimberly Dowell were fatally shot on September 17, 1985. The case remains unsolved and is documented in a 2021 book published by the Indiana Historical Society Press and covered on the Crime Junkie podcast.
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