ABOUT THE SERIES: After seeing coverage of the disappearance and murder of Angie Barlow, Lauren VanSickle has been on a more than three-year pursuit to help authorities track down Barlow's killer. This is the second story of three in this series chronicling the effort to bring Barlow's killer to justice. You can listen to the local podcast, Crime Pursuit, about the Barlow case here. Read Part One of the series here. Read Part Two of the series here. Read Part Three of the series here.
INDIANAPOLIS — The living room in Angie Barlow's family's home has been turned into a memorial for the young woman who has been gone for more than three years. Pictures of Angie and memories are all they have left.
For more than three years, Barlow's mom, Christina Kramer, has helped hold her family together while also demanding justice for her daughter.
"She was our daughter, she was a granddaughter, she was a sister, she's got three little sisters who absolutely adored her," Kramer said. "Who better to advocate for you than your mom? Because nobody on this planet will ever love you more than your mom. You can't move on. You can't."
Locally produced podcast "Crime Pursuit" is dedicating three episodes to Barlow's case and bringing renewed hope that someone might come forward with more information to help police solve the case.
"At this point, they're willing to talk to anybody to get their daughter's story heard," Lauren VanSickle said.
Barlow, 23, disappeared Oct. 26, 2016, after going to a private party at the Landmark Apartments & Townhomes of Indianapolis. Eight months later on June 20, a body was found buried in the backyard of a home in the 5300 block of East 43rd Street on the northeast side of Indianapolis. The next day, the body was confirmed to be Barlow.
VanSickle has spent years searching through public records and talking to numerous people who may have information about what happened to Angie. She has forwarded everything she has learned to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department detective working on Barlow's case.
VanSickle has done all this despite never knowing Barlow. She was just one of the many people touched by her story.
"It's nice. It is. It's really nice because it kind of restores your faith in humanity a little bit to know that there are people out there that are willing to put their necks on the line," Kramer said.
Barlow's mom said she is trying to get her message through to anyone who was at the private party where her daughter went to work in October 2016.
"Are they willing to go to prison for the rest of their lives for people who murdered someone?" Kramer asked. "Once they get that key piece they're looking for, there's going to be a lot of people that's facing a lot of charges and they may not get the opportunity to save themselves when that happens."
While police continue to do their work, one of Kramer's main priorities is keeping the memories of Barlow alive.
"She'd pop in at 1, 2 o'clock in the morning, 'Mom, I'm starving,'" Kramer said. "I'd get up and fix 'em something. The girls would be sitting on the couch watching horror movies. Wendy, the older of the three surviving sisters, she'd be rubbing Angie's head and they'd all just sit down and have, like, little slumber parties, and I know they miss that. I'd give anything to have that back."
Out of all the people impacted by Barlow's death, her 8-year-old sister Zarema is the one who really pulls at your heartstrings. Although the two were 18 years apart, they spent a significant amount of time together making memories that will now have to last Zarema a lifetime.
Zarema said she sleeps with a stuffed owl named Angie every night.
"It's really special because it's the last thing Angie ever gave me," Zarema said.
That is what Kramer wants people to see, especially the ones who know something about Barlow's murder and aren't coming forward.
"This is the people that they broke," Kramer said. "They didn't just take her, they took a piece of us."
PREVIOUS | Body found Tuesday is missing woman, Angie Barlow, last seen in October 2016 | TIMELINE: Disappearance and death of Angie Barlow | Mother pleading for missing daughter's return | IMPD: Search warrant served on Muncie home in connection with missing Indy woman
