About a month before her disappearance, Denise Pflum breaks up with Shawn McClung, her boyfriend of three years.

On the night before Good Friday, Denise attends a bonfire party held at a rural farm. Since it is Spring Break, what started out as a small gathering quickly swells to a few hundred kids. Denise returns home after the party but accidentally leaves her purse behind.

Party Location (Approx. Location)

Denise leaves her home to retrieve a purse she'd left behind at the party the previous night. She asks some friends to come with her, but everyone is busy. Her mother later remarked it was strange that she didn't want to go alone, and wondered why she was uncomfortable going to the party location by herself. Denise gets into her parents' cream-colored 1981 Buick Regal and heads out to the site of the party. However, a tenant of the property where the party had been held later claims he never saw Denise that day, and that she never returned to the farm.

Less than an hour after Denise left to retrieve her purse, her unidentified distant cousin returns the purse to Denise's house.

Denise's Home

An unnamed friend tells detectives that she saw Denise at the Fashion Bug store. However, according to her mother, the clothing that she claims Denise was wearing that day at Fashion Bug does not match the clothing she left her home wearing.

Fashion Bug

When Denise does not return home that evening, her family reports her missing to the Fayette County Sheriff's Department. Authorities try to calm the family down, citing "teenage behavior", and assuring them that she probably will be back soon. The family begins searching for themselves and calling her friends - with no results. The search doesn't start officially until the following day when her car is discovered. The lead detective assigned to the case is the cousin of Denise's father David Pflum, and his methods of investigation are subsequently called into question. The investigation lacks documentation, records, and detailed notes and instead relies heavily upon his memory.

A farmer reports seeing Denise's car alongside Tower Road, a secluded gravel lane between his house and the field he was working. The farmer notices Denise's cream-colored 1981 Buick Regal had been parked from 12:30-1:15 pm the previous day. Denise's car is found locked, roughly 3 miles away from where the party was held.

Denise's Car Discovered (Approx. Location)

Shortly after Denise's disappearance, her ex-boyfriend leaves town and moves to Arizona. Prior to leaving, he is briefly questioned about Denise's disappearance but is never really on the police's radar as a suspect. He does not participate in any searches for Denise and does not seem to be overly affected by her disappearance. McClung is later discovered to have had a lengthy criminal record in Arizona for domestic violence, and he eventually moves back to Connersville in 2017.

An unnamed woman calls from Norfolk, VA, claiming to be the Pflums' daughter. Judy and David Pflum travel to Norfolk to see if this girl was actually their daughter Denise. The girl had called on Mrs. Pflum's day off - which would be information only Denise would know - and many things she mentioned on the call sounded like something Denise would say. When David and Judy arrive in Norfolk, the girl denies having called the family. Finally, the girl admits to calling because she thought she saw Denise at a local shopping center. Despite the cruelty of the hoax, the Pflums do not press charges.

Detective Scott Jarvis of the Indiana State Police begins working the now-cold case in 2007. He follows up on the numerous tips received to date, but no new information is revealed. Despite this, Jarvis feels that while the chances grow smaller the colder the case gets, there is always a chance that the case can be solved.

In 2014, samples of Denise's DNA taken from a baby tooth are submitted to the Indiana State Police Lab and the National DNA Database System. However, no matches are found.

Detective Stacy Reese, a police detective in Vincennes County, had been working the case on a volunteer basis for several years. Detective Reese - who grew up in the same town as Denise and whose mother babysat Denise - starts a Facebook page to raise awareness of her case in May 2018.

Based on a tip from the former girlfriend of a person of interest in Denise's disappearance, the Mary Gray Bird Sanctuary is searched. Cadaver dogs from the Indiana Department of Homeland Security alert to the possibility of human remains at the Fourth Pond at the sanctuary. After a long delay due to torrential rains, the pond is searched, but nothing is found. 

Mary Gray Bird Sanctuary

Sheriff Joey Laughlin - who is now working the case - interrogates McClung about Denise's disappearance and assumed murder. The previous year, McClung had submitted to a voice stress test and in the eyes of the authorities, had failed miserably. Despite a rigorous interrogation, McClung doesn't crack.

Shawn McClung, who had been arrested for an unrelated fraud charge, confesses to Denise's 1986 murder. He tells police that Denise had picked him up on the day of her disappearance, they argued and he killed her, later calling a few friends to help move her body. According to a press release from the Fayette County Sheriff's Department, "Shawn McClung was charged with Voluntary Manslaughter, a class B Felony resulting from the investigation into the death of Denise Pflum lead by Sheriff Joey Laughlin and Detective Chat Blaes. The information and probable cause allege that McClung previously claimed that Pflum was still alive, but has recently admitted that he killed her in March of 1986. No further comments will be made at this time, as the investigation is ongoing regarding the involvement of other parties." Astonishingly, a deal is worked out where if McClung agreed to take authorities to the location of her body, he would be granted immunity from the murder charge. However, it becomes clear that he is unable to provide authorities with the location of her remains. Because he cannot hold up his part of the bargain, he is charged with voluntary manslaughter, and recants his confession.

Fayette County Jail

McClung dies from an "undisclosed" terminal disease at age 56 before a trial could take place.

In April of 2021, EquuSearch Midwest, in conjunction with CCRT, Indiana K9 Search & Recover, and the Fayette County Sheriff’s Department conduct a search for the remains of Denise Pflum. The areas searched are not publicized, except to mention that they were all different areas in Fayette County. The search starts at 7:00 am and continues until 6:30 pm, with a debrief at 7:15 pm that evening. The search results in no reporting of any specific discoveries, but Denise's father remarks that it gives them a better idea of where Denise's remains are not located.

Nearly 40 years later, Denise's parents David and Judy filed a lawsuit requesting to access the 326-acre property now owned by Erika Johnson. The lawsuit notes that the property belonged to Erika's father at the time of Denise's disappearance. At the time of Denise's disappearance, her car was found 1.3 miles away from the property -- abandoned. Erika's brother, Benjamin Q. Johnson, has also been identified as a person of interest.

On Monday, Fayette County Superior Court Judge Paul L. Freed granted a motion to dismiss a case pertaining to the search for Denise's remains. The property owner's defense team indicated a six-year statute of limitations had long passed by the time the Pflums filed their lawsuit in February. The defense indicated that the six-year period began when Denise was declared legally dead on Sept. 12, 1996.