Key facts
- Name: Lola Katherine Fry (born Lola Catherine Coleman; called Kathy/Kat)
- Born: February 20, 1965
- Age at disappearance: 28
- Last seen: Nov. 13–14, 1993
- Location: Indianapolis / Greenwood, Indiana
- Height / build: 5’5, 120 pounds, brown hair, green eyes; breast implants; scar on right knee, small scar on forehead
- Vehicle: 1990 Mitsubishi Eclipse, red/black, plates “LOLA” — never recovered
- Status: Still missing — Endangered Missing; Indiana State Police case open
- Investigating agency: Indiana State Police (317-232-8280)
The deposition
Monday, November 15, 1993, was the day Lola Katherine Fry was supposed to sit for her final deposition. She had already given sworn testimony in two legs of a sprawling lawsuit against the men and companies she held responsible for what had been done to her body. That Monday she was scheduled to finish. She never walked into the room.
The lawsuit was the story of her implants. In the early 1990s Lola danced at PT’s Show Club on Pendleton Pike in Indianapolis, owned by Bradley Dean Hurst, whose circle — per court filings detailed in Trace Evidence’s episode on the case — pressured dancers into implant surgery, promising higher income, then bound them with contracts that barred work at competing clubs and forced repayment if they quit.
In July 1992, Lola and two fellow dancers sued Hurst, Dr. Charles E. Hughes, McGann Medical, and Dow Corning for fraud and negligence over botched, painful implants. Lawyers were pushing for class-action status covering as many as 200 dancers. Lola had already given depositions against Hurst and Dow Corning. Her last was set for that Monday. She vanished that weekend; afterward, her colleagues dropped the suit.
The party
Lola had been in the middle of a life change. She had quit dancing, packed her belongings, and was moving toward Fort Wayne to live with her older sister LaVerne Barker — school, a new start, a family of her own.
On the night of November 13, 1993, Lola went to a party at her hairdresser’s Indianapolis apartment. There were drugs and alcohol, and at some point she became unconscious. For seven years the partygoers’ story was simple: Kathy left with her ex-boyfriend, John Ryker.
About seven years later a new investigator took the file and began unraveling “years worth of lies and deception.” Two men who had been at the party finally confessed: they had lied in 1993. Lola hadn’t left voluntarily at all — she had been carried out wrapped in a blanket, unconscious, and put into Ryker’s car.
Ryker failed two polygraphs and submitted to searches of his home, business, and — under a September 2000 warrant — his apartment. Nothing was found and he was never charged; he is presumed innocent.
Then there is the car — a red and black 1990 Mitsubishi Eclipse with plates reading “LOLA.” ISP Detective William Vann told The Indianapolis Star in 2003: “Somebody had to do something with the car. Short of putting it into water or a storage facility, there’s limited things someone could do with a car.
The investigation
The Indiana State Police carry Lola Fry’s case: (317) 232-8280. The case was worked, reworked, then reopened with a fresh investigator who cracked the seven-year lie. The family never went quiet either — LaVerne Barker told The Indianapolis Star, “I would say she was murdered. She has never been found, and neither has her car.”
Two things are true at once: a documented account from that apartment, confessed by two people who were there — and no body, no car, and a suspect the state cannot name for lack of proof. The rest is what thirty-three years of silence sounds like.
Theories: what might have happened
Overdose, then a cover-up. Drugs at the party, Lola unconscious, then a body wrapped in a blanket and carried out. If she died at the apartment and the men panicked, the missing body and car follow. Supports it: the confessed lie. Undercuts it: no remains found in three decades.
Murder connected to the deposition. Lola vanished two days before her final deposition against a club empire, a surgeon, and Dow Corning — and the suit died with her. Supports it: the timing is, as the Unfound podcast put it, “a matter of timing.” Undercuts it: no public source ties the proceeding to her disappearance.
Voluntary departure. Undercuts it: Lola was mid–fresh start and vanished two days before testimony she had fought to give. No contact in 33 years.
Have information?
Contact the Indiana State Police at (317) 232-8280, (317) 899-8577 or (800) 582-8440. In an emergency, dial 911.
Timeline
- February 20, 1965 — Lola Catherine Coleman is born in Greenwood, Indiana, fifth child of Vernon and Delphia Dale Coleman.
- July 1992 — Lola and two fellow dancers file a fraud-and-negligence lawsuit over their implants, naming Hurst, Dr. Hughes, McGann Medical, and Dow Corning.
- 1992–93 — Lola gives depositions; lawyers pursue class-action status for up to 200 dancers. She quits dancing and plans a move to Fort Wayne.
- Nov. 13-14, 1993 — Party at her hairdresser’s Indianapolis apartment; Lola becomes unconscious and is carried out wrapped in a blanket. ISP says she left Greenwood driving her Eclipse (plate “LOLA”) toward Fort Wayne and never arrived.
- November 15, 1993 — Her final deposition is scheduled. She never appears; colleagues later drop the lawsuit.
- Circa 2000 — A new investigator reopens the case; two witnesses confess they lied in 1993. A September 2000 search warrant on Ryker’s apartment finds nothing; he fails two polygraphs but is not charged.
- Today — Still missing.
FAQ
Is Lola Fry still missing?
Yes — as of October 2026, missing nearly 33 years, and neither she nor her Eclipse has ever been found. Her case remains open with the Indiana State Police.
How old would Lola Fry be today?
Born February 20, 1965, she turned 61 in February 2026.
What was the deposition about?
Lola and two fellow dancers sued the club owner, the surgeon who did their implants, and Dow Corning, alleging coercion into surgery and botched implants. Her final deposition was set for November 15, 1993. Her colleagues dropped the suit after she vanished.
Who is John Ryker?
Lola’s ex-boyfriend, about fifteen years her senior; her sister has described the relationship as violent. He told police she left voluntarily; witnesses later confessed that was a lie — she was carried out unconscious in a blanket. He failed two polygraphs and his apartment was searched under warrant in 2000, but nothing was found and he has never been charged.
Who is investigating Lola Fry’s case?
The Indiana State Police, where Detective William Vann has worked the case: (317) 232-8280.
Sources
- Official / law enforcement: Indiana State Police (case open; (317) 232-8280); The Charley Project, “Lola Katherine Fry” (retrieved Oct 2026).
- News: The Indianapolis Star (2003, via Front Page Detectives: Detective Vann on the car; LaVerne Barker’s statement; the 2000 search warrant); The Daily Journal (family statements, via Trace Evidence’s source list).
- Reference: Trace Evidence, episode 238; Unfound podcast, episode 24; Front Page Detectives, “Stripper goes missing in Indiana, years later the case remains cold.”
Correction: an earlier version dated this case to July 1994 in Terre Haute; the record places it in November 1993 in Indianapolis/Greenwood. Found a further error? Tell us via the About page and we will note the fix here. Last verified October 2026.