On the night of July 17, 1996, 19-year-old Bryan E Haltom was shot and killed during a roadway confrontation on U.S. 231 in Spencer, Indiana. Haltom and a friend, Trevor Powell, were driving north in Haltom’s Pontiac Trans Am when they became involved in a rolling verbal altercation with an unidentified vehicle. Haltom pulled over and approached the other car; a single shot was fired from inside that vehicle, striking him. The dark red or maroon import-style car then turned and fled southbound. Haltom died of the gunshot wound.

The Indiana State Police investigated but received no detailed description of the shooter—Powell did not see the shooter’s face—and the vehicle description was vague, though a license plate prefix of 55 was reported. The case grew cold with no arrests and no official suspects. Rumors and alternative theories have circulated locally, and a planned Unsolved Mysteries segment was never completed.

Does anyone who lived near U.S. 231 in Spencer in July 1996 remember seeing a small dark red or maroon import-style car that night or any other detail that could help the investigation?