Archives: Sylvia Likens' older sister vanishes in California

This story was originally published on May 13, 2015.

In a twist in the story of Sylvia Likens, the older sister of the 16-year-old who was tortured and murdered in 1965 has vanished in California.

Police are searching for Dianna Bedwell, 67, and her husband, Cecil Knutson, 79, of Anaheim, Calif. They disappeared Sunday after visiting a casino in Southern California.

Bedwell is the older sister of Likens, whose torture and slaying captured the sympathy of the public in the decades after the horrific crime, Bedwell's stepdaughter told The Indianapolis Star.

The couple were last seen at the Valley View Casino in Valley Center, about 40 miles northeast of San Diego, around 2 p.m. Sunday, a news release from the San Diego Sheriff's Department said.

They were supposed to head to their son's home in Riverside County later that afternoon for Mother's Day but never showed up, police said.

"I definitely want boots on the ground," said Knutson's daughter Kristen Smith, who is helping with a search effort.

Smith said she fears the car might have crashed off the road, where it might not be immediately visible.

She started a GoFundMe account to raise money for a reward for anyone who helps find the couple.

Investigators are looking for the couple's car, a 2014 white Hyundai Sonata with California license plate 7EHE981.

They have launched aerial surveillance of routes between the casino and the son's home but have not found anything, police said.

Surveillance video captured the couple leaving the casino, but police are not releasing the video.

Likens was killed 50 years ago in October after repeated abuse at the hands of her caretaker, Gertrude Baniszewski, some of Baniszewski's children and other neighborhood children.

Smith said her stepmother talked to her often about her younger sister. The pain has plagued Bedwell all her life, she said.

"It's a really heart-wrenching subject," Smith said.

Likens' father, impoverished and traveling to make a meager living for his family, placed the girl and her sister, Jenny, in the care of Baniszewski.

Likens' older sister, Dianna, was 18 and married at the time to her first husband. Her brothers, Danny and Bennie, lived with their grandparents.

When Indianapolis police found Likens' body, she was malnourished and covered with sores, burns and bruises.

The words "I am a prostitute" were etched into her abdomen.

A jury in May 1966 found Gertrude Baniszewski and her daughter Paula guilty of first-degree murder and second-degree murder, respectively.

Paula Baniszewski eventually pleaded to the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter after winning a chance at a new trial.

John Baniszewski, a son, was convicted of manslaughter, along with neighborhood boys Coy Hubbard and Richard Hobbs.

All were eventually released from prison. Gertrude Baniszewski died of lung cancer in 1990. Hobbs also died of cancer at age 21, about four years after he was released.

Bedwell married Knutson 25 years ago, uniting their families into a close-knit family of six stepchildren, Smith said. She and Knutson were bus drivers before they retired in Orange County, Calif.

She never left behind her tragic history in Indiana, Smith said.

"To this day, she breaks down," she said.

Star researcher Cathy Knapp contributed to this story. Call Star reporter Madeline Buckley at (317) 444-6083. Follow her on Twitter: @Mabuckley88.

THe Murder of Sylvia Likens, as told 50 years ago