INDIANAPOLIS — Jeremy Farmer is charged with murdering his father, Roger “Fred” Farmer. The elder Farmer disappeared in late 2019. His body has never been found.
Fred’s daughter's helped investigators compile the evidence that pointed to their brother. Jeremy, 35, is the oldest of three adult siblings. Tricia is the middle child and Christina the youngest.
"It's so unbelievable,” said Tricia Farmer. “It's so unreal. I just don't understand why – how – why it has to be us. This is really only stuff that you see on the TV and for us to actually live it, I don't know how to process it."
"This is our family,” said Christina Farmer. “This is our life. This is not easy for us to process. We know we wanted justice for our dad. Unfortunately, it brought a lot of sadness to our family, too."
Tricia and Christina reported their 58-year-old father missing when he didn't show up for Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations in 2019. He was allegedly on a hunting trip. But the sisters became suspicious that their brother was sending messages from their father's phone. The text messages had punctuation and emojis. Fred always used talk-to-text with one long run on sentence.
Jeremy was captured on video using his father’s debit card at a Lowe’s store on November 18, 2019. He purchased heavy duty cleaning wipes, Febreze, a 96-gallon, two-wheel trash can, germicidal bleach, a Duracell flashlight, Venom brand latex gloves, extra heavy plastic drop cloths, and Tide detergent pods.
Jeremy was living with his father at his west Indianapolis home at the time of his disappearance. Court records, which were unsealed Thursday afternoon, indicate Fred's bank account was emptied and credit cards used after his disappearance. Jeremy changed his father’s account contact information to his own email.
With mounting evidence, IMPD detectives questioned Jeremy again on February 8. When confronted about the purchase on video at Lowe’s, he asked for an attorney. He was arrested February 10 and is charged with murder. He makes his initial court appearance Tuesday.
“It's so unbelievably crazy,” said Tricia. “It's so sickening. I'd never ever in my life would have thought my brother was capable of that."
The sisters said evidence indicates their father's body was in the house for a significant time before they believe someone else helped Jeremy dispose of the body.
A broken family desperately wants to lay their father to rest. The sisters hope their brother will bring some closure with a complete confession.
“Admitting to what has happened, to me, that would be justice, is to say, ‘This is what happened, and this is where he is,'" said Christina.
Detectives arrested Jeremy for his alleged involvement in Roger's disappearance, and the Marion County Prosecutor's Office has charged Jeremy with murder.
Anyone with information about this incident should call the IMPD Homicide Office at 317-327-3475 or Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at 317-262-8477 or (TIPS).