George Tompkins

George Tompkins, 19, left his aunt and uncle's Indianapolis home on the morning of March 16, 1922, and never returned; his body was found that afternoon hanging from a sapling in what is now Riverside Park, his hands tied behind his back. Marion County Coroner Dr. Paul Robinson examined the body and told reporters at the time that “there could be no question that the man had been murdered and his body then tied to the tree,” and that Tompkins was “dead or almost dead when he was hanged.” Despite this, and despite initial police reports treating the death as a lynching, detectives reversed course two days later; the word “homicide” on the death certificate was crossed out in pencil and “suicide” written in its place, and no further investigation followed. Tompkins had never been accused of any crime, and no motive for his killing was ever established. He was buried in an unmarked grave. In March 2022, a century after his death, the Indiana Remembrance Coalition petitioned Marion County to review the case; Deputy Chief Coroner Alfie McGinty formally corrected Tompkins's manner of death to homicide, and a historical marker was later placed at the site where his body was found.

Indianapolis, IN · Marion County

• 1922: Case opens — victim reported missing or found.
• Documented milestones (renewed investigation, media coverage, family advocacy) to be added as sourced.
• Present: case remains unresolved. No named suspect has been convicted.

• Victim identity and the March 16, 1922 date and circumstances, per the Indiana Remembrance Coalition and the original coroner's contemporaneous statement to the press.
• Marion County formally corrected Tompkins's death certificate from suicide to homicide in March 2022, per multiple news organizations that covered the correction.

• No one was ever arrested or charged in Tompkins's death.
• No motive for the killing was ever established, and Tompkins was never accused of any crime.

• CNN — case report on the 2022 death certificate correction
• Wikipedia — “Lynching of George Tompkins”, background reference
• Project Cold Case
• Murder Accountability Project
• NamUs