Jefferson County Sheriff's Department

Madison Police Department

Marion County Sheriff's Department 

Molly Dattilo was a 22-year-old college senior who was spending the summer of 2004 living with her brother in Indianapolis, Indiana, and taking classes at a local university. She was an accomplished runner who went to college on a scholarship and was taking voice lessons to prepare to audition for American Idol later that summer. On the day she disappeared, she had bought supplies for her hobbies and had just dropped off a job application at a Wendy’s.

Molly was last seen on July 6th after spending the evening with John Shelton, a man she had met that day at the apartment complex where she was staying. Molly left her personal belongings behind, including her phone, ID, and car, which led her family to believe she had intended to return. 

An anonymous tip called into the police said that John E. Shelton called his father the night that Molly disappeared and asked him to help hide a body.

A current Eastern Kentucky University student, 22-year-old Molly Dattilo moves in with her brother in Indianapolis for the summer. She takes summer classes at IUPUI, a local university.

Molly moves in with her brother in Indianapolis to spend the summer there.

Earlier in the day, Molly attends her summer classes and buys some items for hobbies. 

Molly drops off an application at a Wendy's located at the intersection of 10th St. and 465. Molly speaks with her brother's friend on her way there (walking because of the close proximity). The friend notices that Molly does have her cell phone with her at that time.

Molly drops off an employment application at Wendy's.

At this party in her complex, Molly meets John E. Shelton who is moving either into or out of those apartments.

Molly attends a party at Westlake Apartments and meets John Shelton.

The witness is questioned over a year after the event took place and is unable to remember which apartment they actually entered.

A witness sees Molly and John E. Shelton go into an apartment together.

The Westlake Apartments complex has a small retention pond. John uses a maintenance key (potentially belonging to his brother Benji) to access the boat. 

John E. Shelton and Molly go on a boat ride.

Folllowing the boat ride, Molly and John go to a Taco Bell.

Molly and John E. Shelton go to a Taco Bell.

This gas station is 3 miles from the Taco Bell where John and Molly eat and not on the way back to the Westlake Apartments complex (they pass several other gas stations to get to this one). At this time, Molly doesn't have her cell phone or other personal belongings on her. She does have her apartment key on a lanyard around her neck. According to John E. Shelton, he takes her home after this stop.

At a 2007 press conference, Molly's brother Ben Dattilo said, "We have every reason to believe she placed her last phone call in (the man's) presence from this location ... We do not know what happened after this phone call, but it's our family's sincerest hope that others may have information about what happened that night or what happened to Molly or where she is now."

The last time Molly is seen is while she and John E. Shelton are at a gas station. Molly calls a friend from a pay phone, but when the friend answers, the line goes dead.

Two days later, Molly's brother reports her missing. It was not unusual for Molly to be gone for a night or two, but after more time passes and he notices her belongings still there, he begins to worry and calls the police.

Initially, the police are not concerned about Molly because she is an adult, although the family knows she is in danger. They believe the police waste valuable time and information by waiting too long to investigate and interview witnesses.

The family is frustrated at the Marion County Police Department's lack of activity and progress.

The legislation says that the police must follow certain procedures to act more quickly when an adult missing person is considered "high risk." 

Molly's family advocates for "Molly's Law."

The family is awarded $3.5 million. The suit claims that John E. Shelton hurt her and likely caused her disappearance, and that Edward Shelton also played a role. A case like this is rare since no criminal charges are filed against the Sheltons, but it gives some relief to Molly's family. John and Edward never show up to court, and the family knows they'll never see this money. John later tries to appeal the claims while serving as his own lawyer, but his case is unintelligible, calling on irrelevant laws and codes. The ruling stands.

Molly's family wins a civil lawsuit against John E. Shelton and his father, Edward Shelton.

The goal of the civil case for Molly's family is to get access to the case information, and to have John testify as to what happened the night Molly disappeared. During the civil case, the judge orders the police to share a logsheet of evidence gathered in their investigation, including information concerning John. The police warn Molly's family that if they continued to push for these records, the police will not continue to pursue Molly's case. There is enough information in the files to convince the judge to serve a judgment against John and Edward.

The Marion County Prosecutor warns Molly's family to back off trying to get access to case information, or they will not continue to investigate the case.

He is sentenced to 4 years in prison, but is awarded home detention after 1 year.

John E. Shelton is arrested and charged with a Class C felony for operating a vehicle with a lifetime forfeited license.

Nicole Pence, a reporter at Fox59, interviews John about Molly's case. While being interviewed, he becomes so upset he punches a hole in the wall. The reporter and her cameraman leave the apartment.

A reporter interviews John E. Shelton about Molly's disappearance.

John E. Shelton is arrested and charged again with operating a vehicle with a lifetime forfeited license. 

John E. Shelton is arrested for burglary with a deadly weapon, armed robbery, and a felon carrying a handgun. 

John is currently incarcerated on these charges and is awaiting trial.

John E. Shelton is arrested for dealing meth, unlawful possession of drugs, possession of a firearm, and being a habitual offender.

This is the Wendy's where Molly dropped off an employment application the day she went missing.

At 11:00pm on the last day Molly was seen, she placed a call at this gas station. She called a friend, but the line disconnected when the friend answered.

Location of Molly's brother's apartment where she was staying for the summer.

Where Molly and John E. Shelton went on a boat ride the last evening she was seen. 

After the boat ride, John E. Shelton and Molly went to Taco Bell for food.

A college student remains missing after spending the day with a suspicious man

Molly was a 22-year-old college student who was about to graduate from Eastern Kentucky University. She was the youngest of 9 children, an accomplished runner, gifted academically, and a very social and friendly person. She went missing in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 2004. 

Molly was last seen wearing a pink tie-dye shirt with a white collar. She wears contacts and occasionally glasses. Her left thumb, and the nail on that thumb are slightly deformed. She has a brown birthmark out the outside of her right elbow.

Interacted with Molly while she was on her way to Wendy's and noticed she had her cell phone with her.

John was the last reported person to see her alive. According to an anonymous tip, he asked his father to help him "hide a body" the night Molly went missing. John is known as a violent person who has a history of assaulting women and criminal activity. He is currently in prison for drug offenses. 

John Shelton's brother and a maintenance worker at Westlake Apartments where Molly lived with her brother. 

Molly's brother who lived in the Westlake Apartments in Indianapolis. Molly was living with him for the summer. He reported her missing on July 8th, 2004, when she hadn't returned home for two days.

Father of John E. Shelton, and according to an anonymous tip, allegedly helped John "hide a body" the night of Molly's disappearance. Edward also has a violent history and currently has an active warrant in Marion County. He has been "on the run" since the night Molly disappeared.


Indiana

If you know any information, no matter how big or small, about Molly's disappearance, please call the Marion County Sheriff's Office.

Submit A Tip

Listen to the Cold Case Chronicles podcast to learn more about Molly's case.

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The Search for Molly Dattilo

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Indiana family of vanished woman awarded nearly $3.5M; Two men were never charged in student's disappearance

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‘Uncovered’ works to solve more than 200,000 cold cases across the U.S.

Does a male acquaintance and his father hold the answers to Molly Dattilo’s disappearance and the location of her remains?

 was a 22-year-old college student and scholarship runner at Eastern Kentucky University—spending the summer in Indianapolis, Indiana—when she went missing on July 6, 2004. Prior to her disappearance, Molly—a native of Madison, Indiana—was taking summer classes at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis while staying with her brother at the Westlake Apartments on the west side of the city. She was also taking vocal lessons and practicing to audition for 

At the time of her disappearance, Molly’s physical description included: white female, around 5 feet tall and 100 pounds, with an athletic build, light brown hair with blonde highlights, and hazel / green eyes. Molly also had a small birthmark near her right elbow and a slightly deformed left thumb resulting from a childhood accident.

Molly Dattilo_Missing Poster

Molly came from a large family, the youngest of nine children. Her friends and family described her as “... a very social and trusting person.”

The day Molly disappeared—July 6, 2004—she attended classes and did some shopping before walking to a Wendy’s near her brother’s apartment around 7:00 pm to drop off a job application. On her way there, she ran into a friend of her brother’s, who spoke briefly with her. This friend would later recall that Molly had her cell phone with her at the time they spoke.

Later that evening, Molly attended a party at the Westlake Apartments complex, where she met a man named John E. Shelton. At some point, Molly and John left the party to take a rowboat out on the complex’s retention pond, then ate dinner at a nearby Taco Bell. Around 11:00 pm, they ended up at a Thornton’s gas station about 3 miles from the Taco Bell—but in the opposite direction of the Westlake Apartments.

Molly attempted to call a friend from the gas station’s pay phone, but the line disconnected as soon as the friend answered. That was the last time anyone other than John E. Shelton saw or heard from Molly. When questioned, he claimed he took Molly home after they left the gas station.

Declared legally dead after 13 years missing

Molly’s brother did not immediately report Molly missing because it wasn’t abnormal for her to be away from the apartment due to her busy schedule and social life. After two days without seeing or hearing from Molly, however, her brother became worried and notified the police on July 8, 2004.

At first, law enforcement treated Molly’s disappearance as if Molly simply left on her own (at 22 years old, she was legally an adult), and they did not open an investigation right away. When authorities learned that Molly’s belongings—including her car, cell phone, bank card, money, and ID—were still at her brother’s apartment, they began to consider that foul play may have been involved. The fact that Molly’s phone was found in her brother’s apartment is noteworthy because it means she (or someone with her phone) was in her brother’s apartment sometime after Molly delivered the job application at Wendy’s when her brother’s friend saw her with her phone.

After losing valuable investigation time soon after Molly’s disappearance, police did not have any luck identifying a suspect or finding Molly. The family took matters into their own hands, launching a campaign to get Molly’s story into the media and collect any intel they could to uncover leads.

They also began advocating for a new law that would require law enforcement to act immediately in cases of adult missing persons where the missing person is considered high risk. Enacted in 2007 and updated in 2013, the Molly Dattilo Law directs law enforcement to take missing person reports about adults and to begin investigating immediately if the missing person is considered at high risk of being in danger.

Based largely on their own investigation and what little information they could get from police, Molly’s family became convinced that John E. Shelton and his father, Edward Shelton, were responsible for Molly’s disappearance and likely death. While authorities were not prepared to bring criminal charges against John E. Shelton, the Dattilo family worked with an attorney to file a civil lawsuit against him and his father, which resulted in a judgment that awarded the Dattilos nearly $3.5 million in damages.

Molly’s family assumes they will never receive any money—John E. Shelton is currently in prison, and his father’s whereabouts are unknown—but they were relieved to get what little justice they could on Molly’s behalf.

In 2017, more than 13 years after Molly’s disappearance, a judge signed an order declaring Molly Dattilo legally dead.

There have been no criminal charges filed in Molly’s case, but the family believes John E. Shelton and his father, Edward, are responsible for Molly’s death. They hope that one day Molly will receive the full justice of a criminal conviction and that they will find Molly’s remains so they can lay her to rest.

Anyone with information regarding Molly Dattilo’s disappearance, death, or the location of her remains should contact Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at 317-262-TIPS (8477) or the Marion County Sheriff’s Office at 317-327-1700.

Molly Dattilo

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