Letter from the President
Hello and Greetings Fellow INIAI Members,
First and foremost I would like to take a minute to thank the INIAI members for allowing me to the opportunity to serve as your 2026 President. I am looking forward to creating an exciting educational conference with this year’s board.
A big thank you to everyone who served on last year’s board. The board worked hard to plan the 2025 conference. For those who could not attend, it was held at the historic Fort Harrison State Park in Indianapolis. A special shout out to Daniel Recker for stepping up and taking the reins as the 2025 president. His leadership and experience were invaluable. Thank you to Board Chair Kaitlin Hayes, Secretary/Treasurer Mallory Rafferty, and Board Members Marcus Montooth, John Vanderkolk, Kim Settlemoir, Briana Gibbs, and Taylor Corey for their time and efforts to create a memorable conference.
To give you a little background about me, I have been a crime scene investigator with the Carmel Police Department (CPD) for the last six years. Prior to that, I was a sworn officer with CPD, retiring in 2019 as a Sergeant in the Patrol Division. During my time with CPD, I spent 10 years as a Detective in the Criminal Investigations Division, three years as an Accident Investigator Supervisor and Field Evidence Tech Supervisor. I have been a board member with the INIAI since 2022, serving as the 2025 Vice President. I have been married to my husband, Wendell, for almost 29 years. We have two adult sons, and one fur baby name Riley.
This year’s board has already been hard at work and have chosen to hold the 2026 conference at French Lick Resort in French Lick / West Baden, Indiana October 6th, 7th, and 8th. More information on accommodations will be provided in the near future. The board is now working on speakers for the conference. If anyone has ideas or suggestions for speakers or topics, please reach out to me or any of the board members. Our email addresses are:
Board Chair Daniel Recker – [email protected]
President Lana Howard –[email protected]
Vice President Bri Gibbs – [email protected]
Treasure Mallory Rafferty – [email protected]
Secretary Kacie Settlemoir – [email protected]
Taylor Corey – [email protected]
Todd Knowles – [email protected]
Allison Melvin – [email protected]
Marcus Montooth – [email protected]
Kim Settlemoir – [email protected]
John Vanderkolk – [email protected]
Editor Kaitlin Hayes – [email protected]
We look forward to seeing everyone in October.
Lana Howard
First and foremost I would like to take a minute to thank the INIAI members for allowing me to the opportunity to serve as your 2026 President. I am looking forward to creating an exciting educational conference with this year’s board.
A big thank you to everyone who served on last year’s board. The board worked hard to plan the 2025 conference. For those who could not attend, it was held at the historic Fort Harrison State Park in Indianapolis. A special shout out to Daniel Recker for stepping up and taking the reins as the 2025 president. His leadership and experience were invaluable. Thank you to Board Chair Kaitlin Hayes, Secretary/Treasurer Mallory Rafferty, and Board Members Marcus Montooth, John Vanderkolk, Kim Settlemoir, Briana Gibbs, and Taylor Corey for their time and efforts to create a memorable conference.
To give you a little background about me, I have been a crime scene investigator with the Carmel Police Department (CPD) for the last six years. Prior to that, I was a sworn officer with CPD, retiring in 2019 as a Sergeant in the Patrol Division. During my time with CPD, I spent 10 years as a Detective in the Criminal Investigations Division, three years as an Accident Investigator Supervisor and Field Evidence Tech Supervisor. I have been a board member with the INIAI since 2022, serving as the 2025 Vice President. I have been married to my husband, Wendell, for almost 29 years. We have two adult sons, and one fur baby name Riley.
This year’s board has already been hard at work and have chosen to hold the 2026 conference at French Lick Resort in French Lick / West Baden, Indiana October 6th, 7th, and 8th. More information on accommodations will be provided in the near future. The board is now working on speakers for the conference. If anyone has ideas or suggestions for speakers or topics, please reach out to me or any of the board members. Our email addresses are:
Board Chair Daniel Recker – [email protected]
President Lana Howard –[email protected]
Vice President Bri Gibbs – [email protected]
Treasure Mallory Rafferty – [email protected]
Secretary Kacie Settlemoir – [email protected]
Taylor Corey – [email protected]
Todd Knowles – [email protected]
Allison Melvin – [email protected]
Marcus Montooth – [email protected]
Kim Settlemoir – [email protected]
John Vanderkolk – [email protected]
Editor Kaitlin Hayes – [email protected]
We look forward to seeing everyone in October.
Lana Howard