Deputy Sheriff John Grove and Deputy Sheriff Wallace McClure were both shot and killed while transporting two prisoners to the Indiana Reformatory in Pendleton.

   They left the Tippecanoe County Jail in Deputy Grove's car with both men who had been convicted of armed robbery and about to serve 5- to 20-year sentences in prison.

   When they failed to arrive, a manhunt began and the next day one of the prisoner's uncle saw them driving Deputy Grove's car near Danville, Illinois.

   Two days later, the car was found abandoned in Decatur, Illinois, and Deputy Grove's hat was found three miles southeast of Lafayette near Maple Point, where it is believed both officers were killed.

   The bodies of both deputies were found on February 16 in a farm field by its owner and two men near Foster, west of Covington, in Warren County.

   Both deputies were found to have been shot in their backs and the skull of Deputy McClure had also been crushed by an automobile crank.

   The 20-year-old prisoner was arrested on May 21 at his uncle's residence in West Lafayette. He was subsequently convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison.

   In August 1931, the 19-year-old prisoner was captured using an alias in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he confessed. He was later sentenced to life in prison for murder.

   Deputy Sheriff Grove, from Lafayette, was survived by his wife, three sons and daughter.