Thursday marks 33 years since Amy was taken from a shopping plaza in Bay Village. She did not tell the girls who she was waiting for, but she did tell them she received a mysterious phone call right after she got home from school from a man claiming to be a friend of her mothers. He leans down to whisper something in her ear. As police struggled to connect viable suspects to the case, they compared the girls who received the suspicious phone calls. Published: Oct. 25, 2021 at 7:26 PM PDT. Ten-year-old Amy was lured from her Bay Village home on Oct. 27, 1989, to a shopping center at Dover Center . Margaret ran home, called her husband Mark, and began calling all of Amys friends and neighbors asking if theyd seen her. Other students of Runkle have since testified that Runkle engaged in sexual misconduct with them in the form of inappropriate touching and rides in his car to and from his apartment. Subscribe now to get the latest news delivered right to your inbox. She had contracted lupus, along with several other health issues. As seen on the Oxygen mini-series The Disappearance of Maura MurrayWhen an eleven year old James Renner fell in love with Amy Mihaljevic, the missing girl seen on posters all over his neighborhood, it was the beginning of a lifelong obsession with true crime. I call. Signed the visitor log book with their phone numbers, Abruptly quit teaching in 2003 without notice and moved to Florida. When re-interviewed in 2009, two witnesses picked Runkle out a lineup of nearly 30 men as the most similar to the man they remember seeing (Lewis, 2009). "And it better be someone who cannot be linked to you, because when a child is abducted and murdered in this country, trouble will rain down upon you. 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. "This is where I'm at," says Amy, and walks alone across the nearly empty parking lot toward Baskin-Robbins. Amy Mihaljevic disappeared on October 27, 1989. He seemed excited about a new lead. Sure enough, all the employees there recognize Runkle's picture - he's a manager, but he's not working today. Amy Mihaljevic disappeared in 1989 when she was ten years old. 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. 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. 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. A continued discussion on the Amy Mihaljevic case after 20 years. When she learned he was also living in New London, not far from where they found Amy, she called the Amherst police and then confronted Runkle directly. 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. Gold-colored fibers were found on Amy's body, according to the Ashland County coroner's file on the case. Send a News Tip. News of the other suspicious phone calls in the area spread around, and suddenly, no children went anywhere alone. They had a safe place to take her to incapacitate her, sexually assault her and murder her, all without detection. I shake his hand and introduce myself. I know that one of the more well known people who cover this case (James Renner) likes DR as a suspect, and Im sure its with Renners full belief that DR fits according to evidence. Oct 15. Who Killed Amy Renee Mihaljevic. He gave them the name of a suspect and asked if it sounded familiar. Some of them just came to our attention recently. Unfortunately, Ryan didnt remember this incident until years after Amys body was found. There were at least three others. Renner parked his car and confronted Runkle. One such prank supposedly involved dipping a cat in liquid nitrogen and then smashing the frozen carcass to bits on the floor. "I wouldn't be surprised if I was in a picture at the Lake Erie Nature Center," he says. 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. Friends of Amy said the caretaker paid special attention to Amy and was always saying hi to her while she was there for lessons. At 2:10 p.m., on October . A group of fifth-grade boys congregates at the corner of the plaza, by Bay Lanes. Read more about this topic: Amy Mihaljevic, Suspect, Confession, alas, is the new handshake.Richard Dean Rosen (b. In the fall of 1989, Runkle applied for a teaching position at Nord Junior High in Amherst and was hired on the glowing recommendations of former administrators from Vermilion. She says Runkle and another teacher were discussing the pregnancy of an eighth-grader and which boy might have been the father. 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. 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. "I'm meeting a friend.". In fact, he's probably at work right now.". Real Name: Amy Renee Mihaljevic Nicknames: No known nicknames Location: Bay Village, Ohio Date: October 27, 1989 Amy Mihaljevic. In 2008, I learned of a man named Dean Runkle, who was once a teacher in the small Cleveland suburb of Amherst. "Man, me and Dean are friends. Ryan was terrified, said no thank you to the man and quickly ran away to school. The third girl took horseback riding lessons at Holly Hill Ranch, the very same ranch that Amy took lessons from. Runkle also seemed to have volunteered in the Lake Erie Nature and Science Center in Bay Village at the time of the murder. Mother, Laura Smith, and Boyfriend Arrested in Toddler, Julian Madera's Death/ deputies say 21-year-old Landon Broussard showed up to his grandmother's house, carrying the badly bruised, naked body of the 3-year-old boy. He looks more like the sketch than anyone I have seen before. I will be there and will update this thread asap. How often did you visit the Lake Erie Nature and Science Center? Her murder case received national attention. The story I've spent the most time on is the unsolved abduction and murder of Amy Mihaljevic. "We were close. Birth Sign Sagittarius. Jason reported that Amy had not come home in the time he had been there. She watches as he walks up to Amy and puts a hand on her back. According to reporter James Renner, Dean Runkle is a possible prime suspect in the FBI investigation. Some credit him for inspiring them to become veterinarians or biologists. I ask him how so much circumstantial evidence could line up against one person. The details surrounding her disappearance and subsequent murder are a parent's worst nightmare. 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. In late October 1989, Amy Mihaljevic was lured to a suburban Ohio shopping center by an unknown male who had befriended her via conversations on the phone, and she was never seen alive again. This student, Dan, said that he and his teacher communicated via letters a lot, which later turned sexual in nature. It wouldnt have been unusual for Amy to go there alone or with friends. He says that after he left for high school, Runkle used to write him letters. Amy was just 10 years old when she was kidnapped and stabbed to death. Margaret started to panic, so she ran down the block to the middle school to inquire after Amy. For their part, Bay Village police detectives do not consider Runkle as the only suspect in the case and continue to work all leads. He knew her number, her address, the area where she lived, where her mother worked, and even the fact that the latter had recently earned a promotion. In 2001, Margaret Mihaljevic was found dead in her apartment. It turns out the suspect had schizophrenia and he had stopped taking his medication. After he returned, Runkle began building his own nature center inside his classroom. Search for a Topic. 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. The girl had been sexually assaulted years earlier, and thankfully did not fall into the mans trap. A couple thought they had. So by definition, the 3 are still the "most likely suspects". When he couldn't find a textbook up to his standards, he wrote his own and passed it out to the kids. The girl became frightened and immediately hung up the phone. Immediately, police focused in on the caretaker of the ranch, who was a dead ringer for the composite sketch. She waits outside, standing on a bench, twirling around a pole, her head down. Renner, your stuff is interesting, but ad hominem attacks . Nous l'avons rencontr en premier". 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. . The FBI brought in a sketch artist, and the artist was able to create a composite sketch of the man based on the two witness accounts. Dean Runkle is still the prime suspect in the case, according to one FBI agent, but the case against him is still circumstantial. She loved horseback riding, and took riding lessons with her friends at a local horse ranch. Residents of Bay Village lived on edge for years after Amys disappearance and murder. Neighbors had seen the man talking to Amy briefly days before her disappearance, and he also resembled the composite sketch. Amy Renee Mihaljevic was just 10 years old when her life was cut short in 1989. Last year, they stated that they are extensively investigating all the suspects in connection with this particular case and feel that when they identify Amys killer, Joseph would most likely be on their list. Amy Renee Mihaljevic (/ m h l v k /, MUH-hah-LEVIK; December 11, 1978 - c. October 27, 1989) was a ten-year-old American elementary school student who was kidnapped and murdered in the U.S. state of Ohio in 1989. Amy was just 10 years . 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. DR seems eccentric from what Ive read, but being eccentric isnt a crime either. At that intersection is her killer. Amy Mihaljevic was born on the 11th of December, 1978. Two of Amys friends immediately told police they had met Amy at the Bay Village Shopping Center shortly after school ended. The killers hope that their victims remains will decompose by the time their bodies are found and prevent any extraction of forensic evidence such as hairs or fibers. "He would stare at me in class," says Kim Raeburn. 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. Dean Runkle. Blood was also found inside of her underwear. 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. Moments later, I pull up in front of the apartments, which are actually a dozen separate buildings surrounded by a chain-link fence. Amy Renee Mihaljevic (i) mhlvk (December 11, 1978 - October 27, 1989) was a ten-year-old American elementary school student who was kidnapped and murdered in the U.S. state of Ohio in 1989. Multiple witnesses say that he matches the man they saw with Amy the day she vanished. 4. 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. Most of these killers are not stupid. But, none of them match the facts of the case and the description of the offender as closely as Dean Runkle. He was an accomplished ragtime piano player and played in the Red Garter Saloon at Cedar Point during the summers. And it seems that there's finally some break in the case. The owners let the man live on the property in exchange for cleaning out the stables. Sgt. he shouts. Now we know: New clues in the Amy Mihaljevic case. Renner never made contact until he was about to leave town. The latest update in the case is forensic testing of the one piece of evidence found with Amys bodya blanket that had been sewn into a curtain panel, found a few feet away from the body. 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. The local middle school dismissed for the day around 2:10pm every day, but the local high school did not dismiss until 3:10pm. That night and much of the next day I show Runkle's photo around town. We know where she was found. According to reporter James Renner, Dean Runkle is a possible prime suspect in the FBI investigation.Multiple witnesses say that he matches the man they saw with Amy the day she vanished. It's a day investigators have pored over for decades: October 27, 1989 -- when 10-year-old Amy Mihaljevic disappeared from Bay Village, Ohio. Investigators said she was stabbed to death. On Oct. 27, 1989, Amy was lured to Bay Square shopping plaza by a man who had previously called Amy at her home. 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. But something happened in 1987. None had ever talked to a reporter, until they found me in 2006. If youre interested in learning more about Amys case, please check out James Renners book about this case Amy: My Search for Her Killer now available on Audible. [2 . That obsession leads James to a successful career as an investigative journalist. We may never find answers to these questions, but Amys family deserves to know what happened to her. But when she arrived, the school was already closed for the day and no one could help her. DR is to this case what Leigh Allen is the the Zodiac. I was around kids all day.". Marshals searching for Ohio man wanted in multiple crimes, Chief issues 6-alarm fire in Camp Washington, 1 dead, 4 hospitalized after being hit by semi-truck following crash on Ohio Turnpike, 2-year-old Ohio boy found safe, Amber Alert canceled, police say, Duo of suspected porch pirates wanted on Clevelands West Side, police say, RELATED: 32 years later, Mark Mihaljevic still hopeful his daughters killer will be found, Closed Captioning/Audio Description Problems. I ask my questions anyway. According to Jason, for months and years after Amys disappearance, Margaret would do nothing but go to work, and then come home and barricade herself inside Amys room. I thought about showing his picture to the managers, but then scolded myself for thinking it would be so easy. "But I'm telling the truth when I say I don't remember being there.". Some of them have been suspects for years and decades.. This is the kind of thing that a killer only learns with experience. Course Hero is not sponsored or endorsed by any college or university. "When I went to school, there was this wall - student on this side, teacher over here," he said in an interview that ran in the Lorain Morning Journal that year. 5. Lanning has weighed in on the case before. Amy visited the nature center frequently because she loved science. 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. Jason became concerned quickly and called his mother Margaret at work to ask where Amy was. Her body was found four months later, in a field in rural Ashland County. 1949). However, a few minutes after she hung up from Jason, Margaret received a call from Amy herself. . Keeping all this in mind, only a handful of strong suspects remain. I do not believe that so much evidence can point to one person and it be just a coincidence. He was like a son. Thankfully, though, a few people noticed him with Amy that day, and so a sketch of what he looked like was made. In 1971, he quit teaching for two years to play ragtime at Disneyland. There were phone calls made to other girls that were just like the one Amy received. Adkins says she and other young girls were questioned about Runkle's behavior by the superintendent in 1995. If you're from NE Ohio, there's nothing that comes close to this case. Wed, Nov 12, 2008 at 4:00 am. But I answered the FBI's questions, I took their lie detector test and they haven't done anything to me. He asked them if they remembered writing their names and home numbers in a logbook by the front doors. All rights reserved. The case seemed to go cold again until new details were released in 2016, some 26 years after the body of Amy Mihaljevic was discovered. Very close. "I know I'm their top suspect. Also not in his personnel file were the occasions when Runkle was caught alone with students in his gold-colored Grand Prix, by both the principal and a policeman, who let him go with a warning. Runkle was a twin, but his sister died in 1950, when they were 6. By Even after a search of his home, police could not connect the caretaker to Amys disappearance in any way, and he had a solid alibi for the day and time Amy went missing. Further evidence that supports the fact that Amy was not this killers first victim is the phone call they allowed Amy to make to her mother at work around 3:30pm on the day she disappeared. "I said, 'I know you're the one who killed Amy,'" she recalls. Unfortunately thats the reality of the justice system today. He's not homeless anymore. 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. If you meet me at the plaza after school, I'll take you shopping to pick out a present for her. Multiple witnesses say that he matches the man they saw . Whoever this predator was, he had robbed Bay Village of its peace and sense of safety. This would be a very risky move to pull off, so thats another no for DR. All four girls, who received . Runkle also seemed to have volunteered in the Lake Erie Nature and Science Center in Bay Village at the time of the murder. It appears Dan stopped hanging out with Runkle in the fall of 1989. Renner pressed him for any information about Amys murder, but Runkle walked away. Her last meal was reported to be a soy substance . Her murder case raised national attention. "I've been able to tear down this wall. "The younger the age of the victim, the more likely the perpetrator would not have a gender preference," he says. 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. Sometimes he talked about how his father beat him if he didn't finish dinner when he was younger. James Renner is an investigative journalist from the Bay Village area, and he was around the same age as Amy when she was killed. 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. Nothing is that simple, I told myself. Some believed that this suspect could have been teacher Dean Runkle, according to James Renner . Two years later, he earned a Young Educator of the Year award for starting a science fair at the school. Another key person of interest in Amy Mihaljevics disappearance and murder case is Richard Holbert, who, like a few others, has confessed to slaying Amy. "I don't have anything to say." However, his confession proved to be false after investigations revealed that he had been institutionalized on the day that she was abducted. BAY VILLAGE -- As the family of JonBenet Ramsey awaits the arrival of a primary suspect in the decade-old murder of 6-year-old JonBenet, Bay Village police are reminded there is still hope to find the killer of Amy Mihaljevic. There are several people we are still looking at today as suspects for the case, said Elish. 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. a suburb of Cleveland. I'm still going on the fact that Mr. Case knew everyone from that small town and he did not say that Dean Runkle was the man that was with the unknown child . Facts About Amy Mihaljevic. 2 Suspects. 2. Amy was 10 and had not yet reached puberty. Not only is it not a list, but there is NO ATTRIBUTION for it. "Mr. James Renner He didn't say anything, just walked past me. Other fibers and hairs were discovered on the curtain and blanket as well, meaning they may be able to link these items to the killer and his home in the future. Currently, a top suspect in the unsolved abduction and murder of Amy Mihaljevic. It's . "Wish it was me," said Runkle, according to Adkins. 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. Investigators think it could have been an old quilt turned into a curtain. What is your response to some of your former students in regards to. . "What's the reward?" This interaction was seen by two separate witnesses, both fellow middle school students. 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. I requested Runkle's personnel file from Nord Junior High School and ran his name through a search of newspaper articles. It also gave him PTSD. Tue Aug 17, 06:49:00 PM . Mark Spaetzel and a retired FBI agent had interviewed employees about a man who might have volunteered there in 1989. By the time police made this connection, the log book had vanished from the nature center. "I'm meeting someone," says Amy. Only Amy and her killer will ever know the answer. Although the Bay Village Police have, confirmed that these same suspects have been interviewed, there are few. As if by divine intervention, Renner was on his way back to the Miami airport, and Runkle crossed in front of Renners vehicle on foot at a stop sign. Another angle is that this killer is toying with police. 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. James Renner chased Runkle down to the Key West, FL area and attempted to interview him. What a stupid idea - thinking I would walk into a random fast-food joint and find him. Spaetzel also discussed the dangers of strangers. Friends said she never recovered from Amys death and the lack of solid leads in solving the case. The investigation now relies heavily on advancements in DNA. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Design a site like this with WordPress.com, If youre interested in learning more about Amys case, please check out James Renners book about this case. Runkle says he doesn't ever remember being physical with his female students, either. Lanning cites Ted Bundy, who is best known for raping college-aged women even though his last victim was 12 years old. The man also tried to lure the girl out of her house to go shopping for a gift for the girls mother. Dean Runkle was born in the mid 1940's in New London, Ohio, on a farmhouse only a few miles away from where Amy Mihaljevic's body would be found on County Road 1181, 45 years later. But he remains free, managing a restaurant in Florida. I was always at school. Ninguna evidencia forense ha vinculado a Runkle con el crimen. Unfortunately the remote farmland surrounding Bay Village offers predators the perfect cover to abduct, assault, kill and dispose of their victims without attracting any attention at all. It didn't. "If you do become a violent guy, you better be victimizing strangers," explains Lanning. No sign of him, of course. Although Renner describes Runkle as an eccentric teacher, no hard evidence supports this view. He said knowing where the curtain came from and who it belonged to is so important right now. DR is a teacher, and if its one thing that kids will remember its seeing a teacher or former teacher in public. We Got To Him First. Person Of Interest. "Statistical probabilities are always trumped by case specifics." Amy Mihaljevic - Suspect - Dean Runkle. Four months after her kidnapping in 1989, of which the 32nd anniversary falls on Wednesday, Amy's body was discovered in . "I didn't leave Ohio because of Amy," he says. This "list os suspects" is so completely bogus. "Le FBI a enfin un suspect de premier plan dans le meurtre d'Amy Mihaljevic. After high school, he went to Bowling Green, where he majored in education with a focus in biology. Dean Runkle is still the prime suspect in the case, according to one FBI agent, but the case against him is still circumstantial. The FBI believes the murder was actually committed in the remote rural area surrounding Bay Village to avoid being seen. But with each attempt the killer refined his pitch, until, finally, he called Amy and she agreed to meet. Many were just look-alikes, men who resembled the sketch circulated by police but who otherwise could not be linked to the crime.

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