Indiana man arrested in 1988 Gary cold case; 6th cold case solved by FBI's GRIT since 2018

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

MERRILLVILLE, Ind. (WLS) -- An Indiana man has been arrested in a 31-year-old cold case involving the rape and murder of a Gary woman.

On Tuesday, the FBI arrested Tyrone Andrew McKee, 56, of Merrillville for the 1988 murder of 23-year-old Colleen Callahan.

Callahan's body was found on November 9, 1988 in an abandoned house in Gary, according to the FBI.

Officials said the charges against McKee are the culmination of work by the FBI Gang Response Investigation Team (GRIT), which began re-investigating the case in 2018.

"With the advances in technology, especially DNA, increased resources and once reluctant witnesses now willing to come forward to provide information years later, cases that once did not have enough evidence to charge now become cases that can be prosecuted," said Det. Sgt. Nicholas Wardrip of the Hobart Police Department and GRIT Task Force Officer.

McKee has been charged in Lake County Superior Court with one count of murder, one count of murder while committing or attempting to commit rape, and one count of rape.

This the sixth cold case GRIT has re-investigated and filed charges in since 2018.

"We are actively investigating a number of other cold cases and hope to bring several of them to resolution in the near future," Wardrip said.

Anyone with information on a cold case is asked to call 219-942-4899.

Cold cases solved by GRIT since 2018:

Summer 2018 - Walter Rondo, Daidreon Sparks, Jimmie Caldwell, and Dontrall Phillips were charged in Lake County Superior Court with murder and murder in the perpetration of robbery in connection with the 2015 homicide of Donald Fazell in Gary.

October 2018 - Jeremiah Farmer was indicted in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana in connection with the June 1999 double murder of Marion Lowry and Harvey Siegers inside a Hammond business. This was the fifth superseding indictment of Latin King members, including Farmer, accused of conspiring to commit racketeering activity and distribute marijuana, cocaine and Xanax. In July 2019, Farmer was convicted of all counts and currently is awaiting sentencing.

December 2018 - Ernest Cook and Cory Wilson were charged in Lake County Superior Court with murder in connection with the May 2011 homicide of Lawrence Wesby in Gary.

January 2019 - Paul Fontaine was charged with murder in Lake County Superior Court in connection with the March 2011 disappearance of his mother, Dr. Promilia Mehta-Paul of Munster. Mehta-Paul's body has never been located.

March 2019 - Joel Williams was charged with rape in Lake County Superior Court in connection with a March 1984 home invasion and rape in the 1900 block of East 39th Avenue in Hobart.

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