Who is Patrick Scott, the man charged with Valerie Tindalls death?
Valerie Tindall went missing in Indiana on June 7, 2023, and six months later, Patrick Scott, Tindall’s acquaintance, was arrested when human remains were discovered on his property. The remains were later linked to Tindall, and Scott admitted he killed the teen, according to court documents.
Recommended VideosUSA Today reports that Scott, who was 59 when he was arrested, was a person of interest in the case for some time and that his rural property was searched repeatedly before remains were found. He had also lied about the last time he saw Tindall, and he was previously charged with providing false information to the police, according to Law and Crime.
The remains found on Scott’s property were reportedly in a barrel buried under a garage Scott burned down around the same time the teen went missing and only a short distance from the Tindall family home.
Referring to Tindall, who was 17 when she vanished, Tindall’s mother, Shena Sandefur, said, “She’s a really good person, sweet kid. She worked hard to get her grades up. She was gonna go to college. She was accepted, and now she’ll never have the chance” (via USA Today).
Tindall worked for Scott
Reportedly, Patrick Scott owned a lawn care business, and Valerie Scott was his employee. Tindall’s mother, Shena Sandefur, said she’d long been concerned about Scott’s treatment of her daughter, describing him as a “jealous boyfriend” and alleging he tracked her daughter’s phone. Sandefur also said that Scott told her daughter he’d take her “someplace special” for her birthday around the same time she disappeared.
According to FOX59, Tindall was seen with Scott the same day she went missing, and witnesses reported Scott driving Tindall’s car. Suspicions were raised when Scott changed his story about the last time he saw Tindall. He finally claimed he dropped off the teen miles from her home and said he saw her get in the car of an unidentified male.
Scott’s unusual behavior
Patrick Scott displayed other unusual behaviors that led investigators to consider him a suspect in the case, such as burning down the garage under which human remains were found in the early morning hours, not long after Tindall vanished. Scott’s truck was also taken by the authorities around the same time he was arrested.
WRTV reported that Scott admitted to the police he strangled the teen, according to court documents. He said Tindall tried to blackmail him “into a relationship.” He then buried Tindall on his property. When asked how he felt about the crime, Scott reportedly told the police he “wasn’t too crazy about it” and that it “just kind of happened.”
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