Was missing woman Lola Fry the victim of foul play or a casualty of a night of partying gone horribly wrong?

Lola Katherine Fry was a 28-year-old former dancer at several Indianapolis nightclubs who was trying to make a fresh start when she disappeared from Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1993.

A former resident of Greenwood, Indiana, Lola was very close with her family, including her parents, younger brother, and four sisters. She checked in with them regularly, sometimes multiple times a day. Lola’s family reported she was never one to miss sending a card for a birthday or holiday.

Her loved ones called her “Kathy,” and her family described her as shy but said she sometimes enjoyed clowning around with her siblings. One of Lola’s sisters shared that two of Lola’s primary goals were to get married and have children.

The day Lola went missing

Lola had recently moved from Greenwood, Indiana, to Fort Wayne, Indiana, to live with her sister Laverne Barker. On November 14, 1993, Lola was back in Greenwood to visit friends, and Laverne reported that Lola had only taken enough clothing for four or five days.

Several reports state that Lola spent the evening on November 14 with a former boyfriend, attending a party at a friend’s apartment in Indianapolis. Other partygoers indicated that there were drugs and alcohol at the party, and Lola had consumed both. At some point, Lola became unconscious, and Lola’s ex-boyfriend was seen carrying Lola to his car.

He is thought to be the last person to see her, but he has never been charged in connection with Lola’s disappearance. When police questioned the ex-boyfriend, he stated that he had taken Lola back to his apartment the night of November 14. He claims he woke up the next morning around 7:30 am to unlock a property for some coworkers, and when he returned home about an hour later, Lola and her car were gone.

When Lola did not check in with her family for several days—including Thanksgiving—her family became worried and reported her missing on November 18. They also reported Lola’s car missing: a red-and-black 1990 Mitsubishi Eclipse with a personalized license plate that said “LOLA.”

At the time of her disappearance, Lola was not employed, but even several weeks later, her bank accounts had not been accessed since the night she went missing.

According to the Charley Project, Lola’s description at the time of her disappearance was a 28-year-old white female, 5’5” tall, 120 pounds, with brown hair and green eyes. She had breast implants and scars on her right knee and forehead. Her maiden name was Coleman, and she sometimes went by “Kat” or “Kathy.”

Still missing after nearly 30 years

Shortly after Lola’s disappearance, as news media covered the case, police received numerous calls and reports of sightings of Lola and/or her car, but none led authorities to Lola’s whereabouts.

Investigators and Lola’s family conducted several searches over the years since Lola went missing, including one with specially trained dogs that turned up some articles with what looked like blood. Initially, police thought the articles might be clues, but they didn’t lead to a break in the case.

A decade after Lola disappeared, police excavated an area near where she was last seen as part of a broader search for two missing women, but they did not find any remains.

There was some speculation that Lola’s disappearance may have been related to a lawsuit Lola had filed against a doctor who had performed breast implant surgery on her. She was scheduled to appear at a deposition the day she went missing, but no one named in the lawsuit has ever been formally connected to Lola’s disappearance.

Where the case stands today

Lola’s case is still unsolved and classified as a missing persons case, but police do believe foul play was involved and treat it as if it were a homicide case.

According to an interview, two of Lola’s sisters “... believe that [Lola] was dead in the Indianapolis apartment and that the men at the party hid her car and body. They think she’s hidden somewhere on private property where police haven’t been able to search. A private investigator told the family he believes [Lola] may be somewhere east of the Edinburgh exit off Interstate 65, near Hope or Schaefer Lake.”

Her family hopes that whoever knows what happened to Lola will come forward so they can find Lola’s remains and give her a proper burial.

Anyone with information regarding Lola Fry’s disappearance or whereabouts should contact Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at 317-262-TIPS (8477) or the Indiana State Police District Investigative Commander at 317-899-857