Girl Tells 911 in Indiana: 'Daddy Stabbed Mommy'

BROWNSBURG, Ind. – A man was being sought on a murder warrant Monday after his 12-year-old daughter told a 911 dispatcher, "Daddy stabbed Mommy," two days after the woman had a protection order against her estranged husband extended.

The arrest warrant was issued Monday for Joseph L. Warnock, 41, after the death of his wife late Sunday in their home just west of Indianapolis. He and Angela Warnock, 38, were divorcing and she had obtained a two-year extension of a protection order at a court hearing Friday.

Hendricks County Sheriff's Lt. Roger Call said Warnock remained at large late Monday but officers were conducting interviews and looking for leads to help find him.

Detective Sgt. Charles Morefield said Warnock forced his way into the home through a patio door and went to a bedroom where his wife was sleeping with the girls, ages 8 and 12.

Police said that when he began stabbing his wife, the girls ran into a closet and hid there for at least 15 minutes while their father was in the home.

When he left, the 12-year-old girl called 911 and told a dispatcher "Daddy stabbed Mommy."

Police said Joseph Warnock didn't drive to his family's subdivision but parked his car in a church parking lot and walked across a field to reach the house. After the stabbing, he walked back to the parking lot but did not get into his car, the detective said.

"He's still on foot somewhere. Why he didn't get back into the car and drive away, we don't know," Morefield said.