Houser witness offers new information

ALLEN/WHITLEY COUNTY, Ind. (WANE) - A Lake Everett-area resident says he saw an alleged murderer very early the morning the suspect's ex-wife disappeared.

The witness did not want to be identified, but said he saw Rod Houser in his pick-up truck at 5:45 in the morning, leaving the Lake Everett area. That's in Western Allen County. The witness said he recognized Houser and his truck because Houser lived in the area for years.

Conservation officers with the Department of Natural Resources tried a new approach on Lake Everett on Wednesday, in the search for the body of Houser's ex-wife, Deb Houser.

Deb Houser went missing on November 18th. Rod Houser, the father of her 9-year old son is charged with murder for her death.

The Whitley County Sheriff's Department is heading up the search for Deb Houser's body, and is using resources from several neighboring agencies, including the D.N.R..

Wednesday, conservation officers followed up a previous foot search of Lake Everett with the use of sonar equipment out on the water.

The officers put what's called a tow fish in the water. It sends out sonar waves, which bounce back and create an image of what's beneath the surface.

"If there was a tire or any debris down there, it's just going to pop out on the screen," said Conservation Officer Erick Bolt, as he and two other officers scoured the lake.

While conservation officers focused on Lake Everett, Indiana State Police used cadaver dogs to check out some low-lying swamp areas in Western Whitley County.

"There are a lot of things to deal with [out there]," said Indiana State Police Sergeant Trent Smith. "[There are] places she could be underneath or hidden or tied to something if, in fact, she is in water."

Cadaver dogs can smell gas rising through the water from a decomposing body. So far their sensitive noses have turned up nothing, despite thorough search of area lakes, swamps and ponds.

Police focused their search on water early on in the investigation, because of information passed along by a would-be accomplice of Rod Houser's, who bailed on the murder suspect when he asked the confidential informant to help bury Deb Houser's body.

"Bad information from the informant is always possible. We realized that from the beginning," said Whitley County Sheriff Mark Hodges.

Hodges says the search for Deb Houser will continue, until the weather gets too cold to have people out all day.

In the meantime, Rod Houser's court proceedings will get underway early next year. He's due in court for a pre-trial conference this coming Monday.