There is a $50,000 reward for information that leads to Amys killer. They intend to keep it open for the next 30 years until it is solved. "Yeah, I wrote a lot of letters. He was an accomplished ragtime piano player and played in the Red Garter Saloon at Cedar Point during the summers. Today, he's a consultant for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com. Then, in August 2008, a man named Tony Perchinsky called to tell me that he'd heard from a local cop that the man who'd been Perchinsky's eighth-grade science teacher in 1991, Dean Runkle, was a suspect in Amy's case. In March, I learned that the FBI was planning to re-interview an intriguing suspect whom they'd been looking at since 2002 and had interviewed in '05. When he couldn't find a textbook up to his standards, he wrote his own and passed it out to the kids. Men with mostly shady pasts and weak alibis, vague connections to the suburban area, or those who have a history of sexual offenses are the ones who are included in the suspect list. Her murder case received national attention. In fact, he's probably at work right now.". But with each attempt the killer refined his pitch, until, finally, he called Amy and she agreed to meet. Several students have recently stated that they rode in Mr. Runkles car with him to donate the mice at the nature center. Amy Mihaljevic, United States Unclassified. Thankfully, though, a few people noticed him with Amy that day, and so a sketch of what he looked like was made. James Renner is an investigative journalist from the Bay Village area, and he was around the same age as Amy when she was killed. By Dateline NBC. I requested Runkle's personnel file from Nord Junior High School and ran his name through a search of newspaper articles. 3. IDs The Lake Erie Murders: Who Killed Amy Mihaljevic? explores the chilling case of the abduction and murder of a 10-year-old girl in broad daylight. Someone stitched this together inside their home and hung on their tall, narrow window. I shake his hand and introduce myself. I asked him if he thought it was possible that a student of his could have showed me a picture of him volunteering at the Lake Erie Nature and Science Center. The man told Amy that her mother had just gotten a promotion at work, and that he wanted to take Amy shopping to buy a gift for her that day. Required fields are marked *. Sometime that week, a man had called Amy at home, after school, when she was there alone. His hair, thick and bushy, fell on his forehead, just above his eyes, and he was probably in his mid-to-late 30s at the time. Renner pressed him for any information about Amys murder, but Runkle walked away. Mike DeWine suffered injury while in East Palestine, U.S. He lured Amy out, made her call her mother to gain some time, and then kidnapped her for his own depraved purposes. We have proof that this killer attempted to lure many other little girls into the same fate as Amy with phone calls to households with unlisted phone numbers. . Two witnesses said they saw Amy that day with a man who would now be in his mid-50s or early '60s. Ten-year-old Amy was lured from her Bay Village home on Oct. 27, 1989, to a shopping center at Dover Center . Margaret immediately became alarmed and decided to leave work early. Sometimes he talked about how his father beat him if he didn't finish dinner when he was younger. In 2018, officials announced that they were following a potential link between Joseph Newton Chandler III and the murder of Amy Mihaljevic. A suspect has never been identified. She just got a promotion. Four months later, her body was found in a corn field off a remote county highway. He often filmed his students in class, cutting together the film later at home. "I left for health reasons." Apparently, in 1987, Dean even set up a few thousand dollars in a trust fund for his favorite student, but then, in the fall of 1989, they just stopped communicating. Runkle also seemed to have volunteered in the Lake Erie Nature and Science Center in Bay Village at the time of the murder. The fact that Amys body was left in an open area with the blanket her body was carried in leads me to believe that this killer was getting confident, and that they were familiar with this territory. The center had been one of Amy's favorite places. Unfortunately, what looked like a slam dunk case ended up fizzling out. I ask him how so much circumstantial evidence could line up against one person. Runkle is an interesting suspect for many reasons. 1949). Amy Renee Mihaljevic (December 11, 1978 - October 27, 1989) was an ten-year-old American elementary school student who was kidnapped and murdered in the U.S. state of Ohio in 1989. He talked about the blow-up dolls he kept at home and the way the dashboard of his Grand Prix looked like breasts. I was around kids all day.". Why did you leave Ohio in 2003 without giving notice to your employer, For the most part, information on potential suspects has been revealed as, part of independent investigations. According to reporter James Renner, Dean Runkle is a possible prime suspect in the FBI investigation. Facts About Amy Mihaljevic. BAY VILLAGE, Ohio (WOIO) - Nearly 32 years after her murder, theres a new clue in the Amy Mihaljevic case. Does Amy Mihaljevic Dead or Alive? A pair of sisters had also received a call from a man who claimed to be a friend of their mothers. The local middle school dismissed for the day around 2:10pm every day, but the local high school did not dismiss until 3:10pm. Amy attended the local middle school, and her older brother Jason attended the local high school in 1989. However, this is just a theory, and, to this date, no official charge against anyone has been made. The school doors open, and here comes Amy Mihaljevic, dressed in green pants and a pale green shirt with lavender trim. She says Runkle and another teacher were discussing the pregnancy of an eighth-grader and which boy might have been the father. This "list os suspects" is so completely bogus. Some killers do this accidentally, but some do it purposely. He names the same restaurant that had been my first stop. But he remains free, managing a restaurant in Florida. But Runkle eventually asked for the money back. Feeling like police never investigated the local nature center lead after the log book disappeared, Renner began his own investigation. She didnt recognize the mans voice. After having a snack at the shopping center, Amys friends went home, but Amy stayed behind to wait for someone. Privacy Policy. Facebook Amy Mihaljevic and the suspect sketches. "Man, me and Dean are friends. As of 2014, her homicide remained unsolved. Not only is it not a list, but there is NO ATTRIBUTION for it. It seems inappropriate now, the way he treated some of the girls." Cleveland newspaper reporter James Renner investigated Mihaljevic's murder case and concluded that a teacher named Dean Runkle should be viewed as a prime suspect. She had contracted lupus, along with several other health issues. "But I'm telling the truth when I say I don't remember being there.". But only a handful crossed paths with each of the girls the abductor attempted to seduce over the phone before successfully luring Amy to the shopping center that day - the clue upon which the entire case hinges, the one way in which the killer was careless. By the time these women sought me out in 2006, they had forgotten the name. The mother of one of Amys friends drove down to the local news station to have them display a photo of Amy with a notice that she was reported missing. Meanwhile, Mark and Jason moved on with their lives as best they could. . "We were close. Two years later, he earned a Young Educator of the Year award for starting a science fair at the school. A homeless man says he thinks he has seen Runkle at a soup kitchen on Flagler Avenue before, but that was years ago. Ohio Gov. "When you're dealing with human behavior," warns Lanning, "you're not dealing in absolutes. In an attempt to connect the girls with Amy, it was discovered that all, three girls had visited the nearby Lake Erie Nature and Science Center. But something happened in 1987. "I'm meeting someone," says Amy. As I'm considering how to enter the compound, a man walks across the street in front of me. Spaetzel also discussed the dangers of strangers. But the only student they know who went inside was a boy named Dan, who attended Sailorway Middle School. Amy's case, beginning with the phone calls from a stranger posing as a family friend, appears to have been a seduction gone wrong. They had a safe place to take her to incapacitate her, sexually assault her and murder her, all without detection. Science teacher from the area, lived in Ashland County and grew up. Right now, there is a theory going around about the possibility of Amys case having multiple assailants, with a connection to a pedophile ring in Michigan. A curtain, held for decades as potential evidence, just became an even bigger piece of the puzzle in solving the decades-old mystery. . I spoke to him last week to better understand the mind and behavior of the man who killed Amy Mihaljevic. Both witness accounts corroborated each other. Visitors had to enter their name, address and phone numbers in the book. We want it to be a surprise. I suspect they are getting real damn close to getting the person/s. According to reporter James Renner, Dean Runkle is a possible prime suspect in the FBI investigation. The lengths that Joseph went to hide his real name and the longevity of his identity theft led them to speculate that he was a dangerous fugitive. Mr. Runkle taught classes at the nature center and frequently volunteered there. She was born on December 11, 1978 and her birthplace is Little Rock, AR. Unfortunately, neither witness got a good look at the mans face, nor did they see him or Amy get into a vehicle, or go into a store. Dean, a former teacher in Ohio, has always maintained his innocence, but as per the last records, when the local police department started collecting DNA samples, he obtained legal council. Details: In 1989, ten-year-old Amy Mihaljevic received a call from a man named Frank who claimed to be her mother's coworker and that she was getting a promotion and wanted to meet with her in order to pick out something for her mother for a . Amy told her friends about the call, and that she had agreed to wait for the man at the shopping center to pick her up. The Absolutely Nutty Cleveland/East Palestine/15-Minute City Conspiracy Theory, Explained, Ohio Gets an "F" for Failing to Address Lead in School Water, A Behind-the-Scenes Look at How Ohio Enacted the Most Restrictive Voter Photo ID Law in America, Cleveland Public Library Hires First Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, At Householder Trial, Former State Rep. Nino Vitale Cites Hazy Memory, Distances Himself From HB6 Scandal, By Marty Schladen, The Ohio Capital Journal, What Norfolk Southerns History of Accidents Say About the Company and Industry, Scroll to read more Cleveland News articles. He wears a beige windbreaker with plaid lining, front-pressed khakis and a button-up shirt. Renner says on the podcast he believes Lamborgine can be connected to other top suspects . He knew Amy and her friends. Renner parked his car and confronted Runkle. Amy Renee Mihaljevic (i)mhlvk (December 11, 1978 October 27, 1989) was a tenyearold American elementary school student who was kidnapped and murdered in the U.S. state of Ohio in 1989. . Anything is possible." Jen Crouch says Runkle liked to tell her about pranks he played on friends. As word spread around the neighborhood, friends and family started coming over to the Mihaljevic house to make flyers and search for Amy. 5. Runkle stops and answers them for a while. As it happens, the soup kitchen is scheduled to serve free lunch in a half-hour. Whatever the reason, Runkle moved back in with his parents in New London and got a job working at a pet store. Dean lived a tumultuous early life, dealing with an abusive father and the tragic death of his 6-year-old twin sister in 1950. This case to me, to solve it, not just to me, but for the police department and Amys family and really for Amy, would be everything for us, he said. Did you see this curtain hanging in someone's house? And, because he was in the suburban Ohio area in 1989, authorities think that he can be behind Amys death. Did it go missing? He didnt seem to even know where he was. There were phone calls made to other girls that were just like the one Amy received. Scne de . On Oct. 27, 1989, Amy was lured to Bay Square shopping plaza by a man who had previously called Amy at her home. 2. "He made comments about girls' outfits. Subscribe now to get the latest news delivered right to your inbox. On October 27, 1989, ten-year-old Amy Mihaljevic was kidnapped from the Bay Square Shopping Center in Bay Village, Ohio. Read more about this topic: Amy Mihaljevic, Suspect, Confession, alas, is the new handshake.Richard Dean Rosen (b. Usually, someone that would go this far is not someone who has never done that before or hasnt done it again, Elish said. "What's the reward?" "At that age, there's not a lot of difference between boys and girls. While Im sure Renner has spent more time on this than some investigators, I will respectfully disagree with him as being the perp here. The girl became frightened and immediately hung up the phone. The witnesses described that he was within the average range for a males height, weight, and build, making him unremarkable in appearance. At 2:10 p.m., on October . But others remember a darker side. I will admit that sketch of the man Amy met that day looks like DR (and like a dead-ringer too), but simply looking like a sketch doesnt make him our guy. And he talked about how he liked kids who hadn't reached puberty yet, because "I was a runt too.". Her dirty-blonde hair hangs, a little disheveled, over her earrings - turquoise horse heads, mounted on gold studs. All the interviews checked out except one. This desolate stretch of cracked pavement is not a place you'd likely happen on by chance, and detectives had long theorized that whoever had dumped her body there must have been familiar with the area. Some of them just came to our attention recently. Detectives kept trying to focus in on what he knew about Amys disappearance, but the suspect would not answer the questions. We Got To Him First. Amy was just 10 years old when she was kidnapped and stabbed to death. Mark remarried about six years after Amys disappearance in 1995. INTERVIEW FOLLOW-UP The evidence is highly circumstantial toward Dean Runkle. A search warrant for the suspects house was executed, but no evidence linking the man to Amy was found. Some believed that this suspect could have been teacher Dean Runkle, according to James Renner . Sgt. In the weeks leading up to Amy's abduction, a man called them at home, after school, and pretended to be a co-worker of either their mother's or father's. Currently, a top suspect in the unsolved abduction and murder of Amy Mihaljevic. Sagittarius Named Amy . If you meet me at the plaza after school, I'll take you shopping to pick out a present for her. They also start taking trophies. "I know I'm their top suspect. Multiple witnesses say that he matches the man they saw with Amy the day she vanished. Another girl, Maddie, sees this and thinks the boy might be picking on Amy, so she keeps an eye on both of them to make sure nothing happens. Runkle was a twin, but his sister died in 1950, when they were 6. "That was a difficult time in my life," he says. Published: Oct. 25, 2021 at 7:26 PM PDT. Then the man puts an arm around Amy's shoulders and leads her away. Sunday, October 11, 2015. Lanning has weighed in on the case before. By James Renner on Wed, Nov 12, 2008 at 4:00 am. On October 27, the 19th anniversary of Amy's abduction, I made the decision to go see him myself. Tag: Dean Runkle. Renner never got in touch with him again. There were at least three others. Both of Amys parents worked full time. Ken Lanning dislikes the word "profiler" and seldom uses it, but that's what most people would call him. But, they did classify that although he looked quite presentable, he didnt carry himself in a way that an accomplished or a professional person might. But he sees the death of Runkle's twin sister at such a young age as a traumatic event that may have had an impact on the rest of his life. Even today, they are working on it to find the necessary answers and to bring some justice to the young girl who unwittingly lost her life. None had ever talked to a reporter, until they found me in 2006. Recently, she saw a suspect's photo on the blog I've maintained since publishing a book about the unsolved case. 1. When reached at home, he admits to being Runkle's "favorite" for a while. "Statistical probabilities are always trumped by case specifics." C 27 Octobre 1989) tait un tudiant l'cole primaire , g de dix ans amricain qui a t enlev et assassin dans l'tat amricain de l' Ohio en 1989. . Sunday, July 18, 2010 . inappropriate behavior and unwanted physicality? He nods, unsurprised. There is new evidence in the Amy Mihaljevic murder investigation - a homemade curtain and a blanket found on the road where Amy's body was discovered in 1989. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. I pull the car over and hop out. on In 2006, it was revealed that before Amy was slain, many young girls around her same age had also received a similar phone call from an unidentified man, saying that hed help them buy their mother a present. When would I have had time to kill her? Somebody who had ridden in that car a week ago, had dropped a hair on the seat," Renner said about the transfer theory. The FBI, currently offering an up to $25,000 reward for any information, has never let this case go cold. Runkle was born in New London and grew up in a farmhouse just a couple miles from where Amy's body was dumped, along County Road 1181. The report of a missing child from their own neighborhood frightened every soul in Bay Village. The man also tried to lure the girl out of her house to go shopping for a gift for the girls mother. James Renner chased Runkle down to the Key West, FL area and attempted to interview him. He was like a son. Throughout his adult life, Renner has become obsessed with solving Amys murder. We know where she was found. He promptly began building a new zoo and inviting kids to help with the animals after school. I quickly began to see why this man was on the FBI's list of priorities. Police found signs of sexual assault, and her cause of death was declared as multiple stab wounds to the neck area. The Lake Erie area had never seen such a gruesome murder of a child. Other tips were called in about a local handyman who had been doing some work on a house down the street from the Mihaljevics. On October 27th, 1989, 10-year-old Amy Mihaljevic disappeared from a shopping center near her home in Bay Village, OH. Today, in his late 70s, he remains free and resides in Key West, Florida, where he works as a restaurant shift manager. Keeping all this in mind, only a handful of strong suspects remain. Joseph, real name Robert Ivan Nichols, committed suicide in Eastlake, Ohio, in 2002, but when investigators were unable to locate his family at the time, they discovered that he had stolen the identity of an eight-year-old boy who was killed in a car crash in 1945. At the time of Amy's . The killer also must have been local at the time, having known about the corn field on the remote county road for disposal of Amys body. Amy Renee Mihaljevic was just 10 years old when her life was cut short in 1989. A teacher at Amys middle school had told police back in 1989 that he had never heard of the nature center and had nothing to do with the establishment. Amy was 10 and had not yet reached puberty. James Renner, around the same age as Amy at the time, had been following the story about the cute little girl with the side ponytail. All these other girls had unlisted phone numbers. The first place I stopped was a chain restaurant that Runkle reportedly frequented in Ohio. Today, Dan is living in a rundown apartment complex in Vermilion. Oftentimes, the motive of these killers is actually sexual assault, but the charges for assault of a minor are so steep that offenders feel they have to kill the victim after the assault to prevent identification. Mr. Runkle wouldve had access to the log book which listed Amys address and phone number, as well as the unlisted phone numbers of the other girls who received the suspicious phone calls. . I can tell whatever I want to. Hes a suspect who looks good from a standpoint of circumstantial evidence, but when we need concrete evidence it all falls apart. Her body was found in Ashland County - about 50 miles away - a few months later. Clearly the killer attempted to lure several other girls into the same trap before Amy, and who knows how many other victims they succeeded in killing prior to Amys murder. Most child molesters don't abduct and kill their victims, he notes. Thousands of tips have come in throughout the years, but no one has ever been arrested. At one time, they even seemed close to arresting him. Initial evidence found at the scene suggested that she had been dumped there shortly after her abduction, maybe on the day itself. Finally, police discovered a link between all the girls. This three-decade-old mystery and the nationwide hunt for the perpetrator, involving hundreds of suspects, is still ongoing. "I said, 'I know you're the one who killed Amy,'" she recalls. Thus, Amy found herself home alone every afternoon for about an hour before her brother Jason came home from school. She waits outside, standing on a bench, twirling around a pole, her head down. Lamborgine, reputed to be one of the leaders of a pedophile ring, lived in Cleveland and within close proximity to Mihalevic for years. Investigators would later figure out that Amy was not the only girl who had received such phone calls around the same time. "NEW" EVIDENCE? The handyman was brought in for questioning, but was quickly eliminated as a suspect once his alibi was corroborated by multiple people. "Mr. The girl had been sexually assaulted years earlier, and thankfully did not fall into the mans trap. Amy Mihaljevic was 10 years old when she was abducted from the shopping plaza across the street from the police station in Bay Village, Ohio, on a sunny Friday afternoon in 1989. Dean Runkle is still the prime suspect in the case, according to one FBI agent, but the case against him is still circumstantial. When I ask him if he could have used the logbook at the nature center to gather phone numbers for girls in North Olmsted, he says he's done talking and begins to walk away. Another girl in the next town over came forward to police about a similar phone call as well, but this girl had something in common with Amy. He asked each of them if they remembered visiting the Lake Erie Nature and Science Center in Bay Village. Amy Mihaljevic disappeared on October 27, 1989. But no one knows Runkle. Cleveland newspaper reporter James Renner investigated Mihaljevic's murder case and concluded that a teacher named Dean Runkle should be viewed as a prime suspect. Another close timeframe, so its another no from me. James Renner And, only a few times has she said that the man in the photo could be the one she saw. Search. "I would definitely tell them to investigate this guy.". "He would stare at me in class," says Kim Raeburn. None took the bait. Amy Mihaljevic has been died on Oct 27, 1989 ( age 10). By Nichole Vrsansky. Runkle says he doesn't ever remember being physical with his female students, either. Dean Runkle sigue siendo el principal sospechoso en el caso, segn un agente del FBI, pero el caso en su contra sigue siendo circunstancial. In 2002, during a Sunday Mass at St. Angela Merici Catholic Church on Lorain Road in Fairview Park, he announced that he was the one responsible for what happened to Amy. He was very touchy." Elish believes anyone who can identify those items, the curtain especially, will help solve this case. 4.5 stars This book is about a young reporter's unceasing quest to find out what happened to Amy Mihaljevic. Submissions. But Amy told her brother, Jason, and her friend, Kristy Balas, about the phone calls. Jay Elish. She lugs a blue-denim book bag with red piping. A group of fifth-grade boys congregates at the corner of the plaza, by Bay Lanes. How did Amy's life cross paths with the lives of three girls from North Olmsted she had never met? What happened to the car you were driving in the Fall of 1989? Mark Spaetzel and a retired FBI agent had interviewed employees about a man who might have volunteered there in 1989. Amy Renee Mihaljevic (11 Dcembre 1978 - Le . Read honest and unbiased product reviews from our users. In August, after hearing from Perchinsky, I sent more than 500 e-mails to former students of Runkle's through MySpace and Facebook. DR is to this case what Leigh Allen is the the Zodiac. Birth Sign Sagittarius. At that intersection is her killer. Your email address will not be published. She said she was going with a friend to the Bay Square Shopping Center. They recalled seeing him eating at Rax on Route 58 every night, sometimes with his classroom assistants. Most of these killers are not stupid. Police say that a man identified by his ex-girlfriend as a possible suspect in the death of Amy Mihaljevic told investigators he may have called the 10-year-old girl prior to her abduction . To me, Runkle is similar because there is just so much circumstantial evidence that points to him. I ask my questions anyway. Call the Bay Village Police Department at 440-871-1234. Edit: Press conference just ended. News of the other suspicious phone calls in the area spread around, and suddenly, no children went anywhere alone. We knew in 2016, her dogs hair was on the curtain, but now knowing her hair is on them tells us more and is a lot stronger, explained Bay Village Det. If you're from NE Ohio, there's nothing that comes close to this case. These other girls went to school in North Olmsted and were roughly the same age as Amy, about 10 or 11. Since Runkle is exceptionally well liked as a teacher by many former students, Renner became the subject of strong criticism, unlike anything he had faced from naming previous suspects, when he named Runkle. He asked them if they remembered writing their names and home numbers in a logbook by the front doors. Some credit him for inspiring them to become veterinarians or biologists. Runkle resigned abruptly, explaining he had to leave for "health reasons." "And here's the weird thing," said Perchinsky. His denials of involvement in her abduction and murder notwithstanding, no other suspect has ever matched the facts of the case as closely as Dean Runkle. This is the kind of thing that a killer only learns with experience. It appears Dan stopped hanging out with Runkle in the fall of 1989. The new information still led to no significant new leads or suspects. He got a job teaching seventh-grade science at Sailorway Middle School in Vermilion in 1967. That night and much of the next day I show Runkle's photo around town. He had a few girls he was extra close to, like the girl who sat in front of me. I ask him about Dan and he quickly became emotional. I begin focusing on the people I can tell are locals - the tanned man weaving palm-frond baskets, the musician strumming a guitar on a corner. They know this.". Amy ignores him. Then March became June, and June became November. he shouts. After years and years of almost-suspects, Bay Village police had yet another lead go cold. ", I ask him about the sexual nature of the letters and he looks away. His hair is thick and bushy above his eyes. [emailprotected] Anyone with any information, call the FBI at 216.522.1400 or the Bay Village Police Department at 440.871.0773. We should also mention that a former student of Dean has publicly accused him of inappropriate contact. First Look: Campus Pollyeyes, Opening Next Week in Little Italy, Arthur Treacher's in Garfield Heights Reopened by New Owner Who Plans More Locations in Ohio. She jogs a little to catch up with Olivia Masiak. Serial killers who get away with murders early on their sprees are known for getting more and more negligent with covering up their crimes as they progress. Cleveland Taco Week returns on Monday, April 10th. He also photographed his students regularly, developing the negatives himself. 08/18/2006. Richard Holbert. We know this perpetrator is both patient opportunistic, the play it safe type who allowed Amy to call her mom as to not raise suspicion, so why would he rush from his job to the abduction scene? But what motivation could this man possibly have to lie to police during their investigation in 1989? Her murder case raised national attention. In the years since Amy's abduction, Maddie (not her real name) has been shown hundreds of photos of suspects. He worked for the bureau for 30 years, the last 20 devoted to crimes against children. Margaret started to panic, so she ran down the block to the middle school to inquire after Amy. However, his confession proved to be false after investigations revealed that he had been institutionalized on the day that she was abducted. Amy Mihaljevic's cause of death was determined to be homicide by stabbing. Many of these men have no alibis for the afternoon of October 27, 1989. Cleveland newspaper reporter James Renner investigated Mihaljevic's murder case and concluded that a teacher named Dean Runkle should be viewed as a prime suspect. We may never find answers to these questions, but Amys family deserves to know what happened to her.