Sheriff William VanCamp was shot and killed while investigating two suspicious men near Schultz woods northwest of Mount Carmel.

   A farmer had reported the men were sitting in a vehicle and when Sheriff VanCamp went to investigate, he was shot before the suspects fled the area heading east.

   On September 4, they robbed the Farmers National Bank in Greenville, Ohio of $6,377.

   State authorities refused to extradite both offenders, a 25-year-old who had previously been a Springfield police officer and a 36-year-old, who were each later sentenced for armed robbery to 25 years in the Ohio State Penitentiary.

   In 1939, Indiana was not notified of their release but were indicted for murder in Franklin County. One suspect was apprehended in Springfield, Ohio, while the other suspect was shot during his arrest in Wheeling, West Virginia. He died from his wounds in the Franklin County Jail after both were returned to the state.

   Sheriff VanCamp, a Republican from Brookville, was in the first year of his second, two-year term in office as the 28th sheriff of Franklin County. He was survived by his wife, brother and sister.

Military Service United States Army World War I

Historical Note • Sheriff VanCamp is the third-youngest of the 21 sheriffs with line of duty deaths in Indiana.

Read more on our research at Honoring Our Fallen Sheriffs.