In 1986, 29 year old Russell ‘Keith’ Dardeen and his 30 year old wife Ruby ‘Elaine’ Dardeen (both who liked to be referred to by their middle names), purchased a trailer home outside of Ina, Illinois, USA.
The couple also had a 2 year old son named Peter.
Keith had worked as a treatment plant operator, whilst Elaine had found work at an office supply store.
When the young couple were not working, they were part of the musical ensemble at a small Baptist church in the village. Keith sang lead vocals while Elaine played the piano.
In 1987, Elaine became pregnant with the couple’s second child. They had decided to name the baby Ian if they had a boy or Casey if they had a girl.
The pending addition to the family had led Keith and Elaine to strongly consider moving and by late in the year they had put the mobile home up for sale, realising that they needed more space for their growing family.
However, that was not the only reason for the move. According to Keith’s mother, Joeann Dardeen, he had expressed wishes to move back to his native Mount Carmel with his family, on account that he regretted moving to Ina due to the growing violence in the area.
There had been 15 homicides in Jefferson County during the previous two years, starting with those committed by Thomas Odle, a Mount Vernon teenager who had killed his parents and three siblings as they individually returned to the house one night in 1985.
Also in May 1987, a 10-year-old girl had been raped and murdered in the area, after this, Keith became so protective of the family that one night, when a young woman came by the mobile home asking if she could make a phone call, he refused to let her in.
Sadly, these precautions would not be enough to prevent the tragic fate of the family…
On November 18th 1987, Keith, who was known for his reliability at work, failed to show up at the treatment plant. He hadn’t informed anyone of his absence, and calls to his home went unanswered throughout the day. Concerned, Keith’s supervisor contacted his parents, but they were also unaware of their son’s whereabouts.
Growing increasingly worried, Keith’s parents alerted the sheriff’s office and agreed to drive down to Ina with the house key to meet the deputies.
Upon entering the trailer, they were confronted with a horrifying scene that would haunt them for the rest of their lives.
They discovered the lifeless bodies of Elaine, 2-year-old Peter, and the young couple’s newly born baby, all in one bed.
Elaine and Peter had been bound and gagged with duct tape, and both had been beaten so severely that Elaine, who was pregnant, had gone into labour and delivered a girl.
Tragically, the perpetrator(s) showed no mercy to the newborn and took her life as well. The weapon of choice was a baseball bat; a birthday gift from Keith to Peter earlier that year.
While three family members were found dead, Keith was missing, along with the family car.
Investigators initially assumed that Keith had murdered his family and fled. A search team was assembled to find Keith, but their efforts were halted the next day when a group of hunters found his body in a wheat field not far from the trailer.
Keith had been shot three times: in his skull, the right side of his face, and his left cheek. His genitals had also been mutilated.
Keith’s car was found parked outside a police station in Benton, about 11 miles away from his family home. The interior of the trailer was splattered with blood, suggesting that Keith had been murdered there and transported later.
Autopsies of the bodies were inconclusive in determining who was killed first, but it was established that they were all killed within an hour or two of one another.
As the news of the Dardeen family homicides circulated around the area, locals were left even more fearful than they were already. This led to a surge in gun sales and security system installations.
Despite the efforts of 30 detectives working full-time on the case and interviewing 100 people, no significant leads were found. The investigators were left grappling with the motive behind the murders.
The back door was unlocked, there was no evidence of forced entry and valuable items like a VCR and portable camera were left untouched in the living room. Cash and jewellery were also left undisturbed in another room.
Due to the personal nature of the murders and the act of mutilating Keith’s genitals, detective considered that the crime may have been one of passion, with either Keith or Elaine taking part in an extra-martial affair that got out of hand. However, after investigating, they could not find any evidence of disloyalty from either victim.
They also found no evidence of any grudges or financial troubles. A stack of papers with sports scores found in the house led them to consider whether Keith had gambling debts. However, Keith’s mother, Joeann, told the police that her son was so frugal that he raised funds for his young son’s college education by reselling 50-cent cans of soda at work for a small profit.
Inside Keith’s trailer, police found a small amount of marijuana, but they found no conclusive evidence that they were involved in drug dealing. Keith’s mother suggested that the marijuana belonged to the killer(s).
The brutality of the Dardeen family murder led some to believe that it could have been the work of a cult trying to appease the Devil, but no ritualistic symbols were found in the trailer.
However, investigators did not believe that the family was chosen at random. “I believe it was a very personal, deliberate thing,” one investigator commented.
Unfortunately, as time passed, the case grew colder, but Keith’s mother ensured that the authorities didn’t forget the brutal murder. She continued to pressure the authorities to solve the murders of her son and his family. She even collected more than 3000 signatures in an attempt to get The Oprah Winfrey Show to air a segment on the murders, but the producers declined, stating that the crime was ‘too brutal’ for daytime television.
America’s Most Wanted initially had a similar reaction, but they changed their mind in 1998 and aired a segment. However, the show failed to generate any new leads.
The most promising lead came in 2000, when serial killer Tommy Lynn Sells was arrested for cutting the throats of Kaylene Harris, 13, and Krystal Surles, 10, near Del Rio, Texas. After his arrest, Tommy claimed that he had carried out the Dardeen Killing along with other 70 unsolved murders.
Sells was confirmed to have committed at least 22 murders, but the investigators were unable to link him to the Dardeen family murders. He gave statements, but nothing matched the evidence.
Sells claimed in 2010 that he met Keith at a truck stop, and while telling the story again he said he met him at a local pool hall. In both versions, he said that Keith had invited him for dinner and a three-way with him and Elaine. Keith’s mother dismissed his claims, stating that Keith was far too protective of his family to do such a thing.
As Sells was interviewed further, he was found to be less reliable. He incorrectly answered questions about the case. While he answered some details correctly, those details could have easily been gleaned from the media.
In a 2010 interview, Sells stated, “I know people have their doubts. They say there’s no physical evidence tying me to the Dardeens, but there wasn’t for any of them because they weren’t looking for me. I moved. I was always a transient.”
Sells was executed in 2014, and to this day, no one has ever been charged with the murders of the Dardeen family.
It remains uncertain whether Tommy Sells was involved in the murder of the Dardeen family or if he was trying to evade the death penalty by confessing to crimes he hadn’t committed, exploiting the judicial system’s leniency.
The family are buried together in Graceland Cemetery in Albion, Edwards County, Illinois, USA.
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