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IMPD shows new photos of person sought in Kentucky rape, murder case

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Police have released new surveillance pictures of a man wanted for questioning in connection to a rape and murder of a 70-year-old woman in Kentucky.

Dwight Bell, 41, was last seen more than a week ago at an Indianapolis gas station.

There is a warrant for Bell in Somerset, Kentucky, on a theft charge. He’s accused of stealing the victim’s car and driving the car to Indianapolis. Police found the victim’s car in a parking lot downtown. But Bell was nowhere to be found.

Police are asking for your help to find Bell. They are calling him a person of interest in a rape and murder investigation of Ruthie Carolyn New.

“My family and friends are just feeling a lot of pain and hurting and there’s so much good that my mom left behind,” said Jonathan New, the victim’s son.

New said he just wants to focus on his mother’s legacy.

“There’s a lot of people that have come to know Christ thankfully because my parents,” he said.

His mother’s car was found more than 200 miles from Kentucky and police believe Bell stole the car. It was found in the parking lot of Shapiro’s Delicatessen near South Meridian and Sycamore streets.

Just hours after the discovery on Aug. 23, police said Bell was seen on camera at a Speedway gas station on Kentucky Avenue near Lucas Oil Stadium. In the pictures, you can see him wearing a hat and carrying a blue backpack. Police said he returned to the gas station the following day. Bell was seen walking to the gas station from the north and leaving in the same direction on both occasions.

24-Hour News 8 learned Bell pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter in Kentucky for shooting and killing his dad in the back of the head with a shotgun.

According to WKYT-TV in Lexington, Kentucky, Bell was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 1999 and got paroled in 2005. But he went back to prison for violating his parole in 2008 and was released on supervision in 2012.

Another warrant was issued for Bell in Henry County, Indiana, after he didn’t show up to a court hearing. Court records show he accepted a plea deal in a strangulation case in New Castle, Indiana.

Police said they believe Bell may be staying at homeless shelters in the downtown area or trying to blend in with other homeless individuals.

If you think you know where he’s at, you’re asked to call Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at (317) 262-8477.

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