Amy ignores him. Amy Mihaljevic was born on the 11th of December, 1978. By the time these women sought me out in 2006, they had forgotten the name. On October 27th, 1989, 10-year-old Amy Mihaljevic disappeared from a shopping center near her home in Bay Village, OH. The owners let the man live on the property in exchange for cleaning out the stables. DR is a teacher, and if its one thing that kids will remember its seeing a teacher or former teacher in public. Today, Dan is living in a rundown apartment complex in Vermilion. 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. According to reporter James Renner, Dean Runkle is a possible prime suspect in the FBI investigation. Privacy Policy. No sign of him, of course. Her killer has never been apprehended. The Handmade Curtain. The witnesses described that he was within the average range for a males height, weight, and build, making him unremarkable in appearance. Investigators would later figure out that Amy was not the only girl who had received such phone calls around the same time. They walk together until they reach the shopping plaza a quarter mile down the road. 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. Amy . Whether it came out of that persons house, whether it came out of the location where Amy was killed. He admitted he was a teacher at Amys middle school, but denied he had anything to do with the nature center. a suburb of Cleveland. This theory is based on the fact that Amys body was found re-dressed and her underwear was put back on inside out. Now we know: New clues in the Amy Mihaljevic case. Sunday, October 11, 2015. Amy Mihaljevic Again, no one remembered the name. Runkle was a twin, but his sister died in 1950, when they were 6. Several students have recently stated that they rode in Mr. Runkles car with him to donate the mice at the nature center. In 1971, he quit teaching for two years to play ragtime at Disneyland. Searchers discovered Amy's body on February 9, 1990. She had been stabbed twice in the neck and hit in the head with a . A continued discussion on the Amy Mihaljevic case after 20 years. He names the same restaurant that had been my first stop. Many were just look-alikes, men who resembled the sketch circulated by police but who otherwise could not be linked to the crime. Gold-colored fibers were found on Amy's body, according to the Ashland County coroner's file on the case. Submissions. Several students say they were invited back to Runkle's apartment after school. 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. Margaret started to panic, so she ran down the block to the middle school to inquire after Amy. Margaret and Mark filed for divorce, and Mark moved out of the house. 1. In 1987, Runkle set a few thousand dollars aside in a trust for Dan, according to Dan's mother. Amy's case remains open to this day, and the Bay Village police have never let her case go cold in almost 30 years. And that's when the old man with a Frisbee shows up. Amys death affected everyone in the Bay Village community and surrounding areas. 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. James Renner is an investigative journalist from the Bay Village area, and he was around the same age as Amy when she was killed. Margaret still left work immediately and returned to her house, but Amy wasnt there. Blood was also found inside of her underwear. He was like a son. "I'm meeting someone," says Amy. Police believe Amys body was wrapped in the curtain for transport from the actual crime scene to the field where her body was dumped. . Dean Runkle. Amy was just 10 years . But they recently tested dog hairs found on the fabric and determined that they matched hairs taken from the dog Amy owned at the time. In February 1990, when Amys body was found in an Ashland County field, a curtain and a blanket were discovered 300 yards away. The man spoke to her for a few seconds, and then led her away from the sidewalk. "Man, me and Dean are friends. The shopping center was located directly across the street from the school. Margaret ran home, called her husband Mark, and began calling all of Amys friends and neighbors asking if theyd seen her. Some credit him for inspiring them to become veterinarians or biologists. Many of these men have no alibis for the afternoon of October 27, 1989. They had a safe place to take her to incapacitate her, sexually assault her and murder her, all without detection. Renner never made contact until he was about to leave town. Runkle sold his gold Grand Prix in 1991. A couple thought they had. 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. Our theory is that they were used to wrap her in before she was dumped where she was found.. Meet Dean Runkle, former teacher of the year from Amherst, Ohio. Visitors had to enter their name, address and phone numbers in the book. But Amy told her brother, Jason, and her friend, Kristy Balas, about the phone calls. Ten-year-old Amy was lured from her Bay Village home on Oct. 27, 1989, to a shopping center at Dover Center . 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. ", And though most victims of child abuse know their attackers, when a child is killed, often it's at the hands of a stranger who has gone outside his safe zone. At that time, they told me that on the week of St. Patrick's Day in 2005, a retired FBI agent who worked on Amy's case contacted each of the girls from North Olmsted. ALSO, Dean Runkle has NOT been named as a suspect. A female student from his 1989 class says she noticed the similarities between Runkle and the composite sketch of Amy's abductor. Jay Elish. There are several people we are still looking at today as suspects for the case, said Elish. 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. At this point, the case was still considered a missing persons case, as Amys body would not be found until months later. ", I ask him about the sexual nature of the letters and he looks away. 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. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. Maddie assumes it's Amy's dad, picking her up after school, but only because she had never met Amy's father. He arranged to meet Amy after school that day to help her buy a gift for her mom for a work promotion. Read honest and unbiased product reviews from our users. 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. Then Runkle suddenly quit again, in 2003, according to his personnel file; he gave no reason, declined to apply for a sabbatical that would have allowed him to reach retirement, and didn't even complete the paperwork necessary to collect his pension. Scne de . According to Jason, he would usually find Amy at home watching TV or eating a snack when he arrived. A search warrant for the suspects house was executed, but no evidence linking the man to Amy was found. "I said, 'I know you're the one who killed Amy,'" she recalls. Her murder case received national attention. The local middle school dismissed for the day around 2:10pm every day, but the local high school did not dismiss until 3:10pm. I shake his hand and introduce myself. Dan says their relationship was never physical. That way I really get to know the kids and they get to know me, and we understand each other that way.". She jogs a little to catch up with Olivia Masiak. The curtain is homemade, and was originally Avocado green. By the time police made this connection, the log book had vanished from the nature center. 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. 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. "I would definitely tell them to investigate this guy.". Last Friday, I flew to Miami, then drove to Key West, where Dean Runkle has been living since his abrupt departure from Ohio in 2003, which occurred as investigators began to question his relatives and co-workers. Richard Holbert. This interaction was seen by two separate witnesses, both fellow middle school students. I'd watch him put his left hand on her back and bend down to whisper in her ear. A homeless man says he thinks he has seen Runkle at a soup kitchen on Flagler Avenue before, but that was years ago. 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. It turns out the suspect had schizophrenia and he had stopped taking his medication. One of Amys friends, who saw this man lead her away, has been shown hundreds of pictures of possible suspects. He gave them the name of a suspect and asked if it sounded familiar. Investigators from Bay Village and the FBI know of this man. But when that approach doesn't work, they may resort to violence, "because they can't figure out another way to get the child to have sex with them. 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. Although Renner describes Runkle as an eccentric teacher, no hard evidence supports this view. He bred mice in his classroom, and then donated them to the nature center to feed the mice there. While Im sure Renner has spent more time on this than some investigators, I will respectfully disagree with him as being the perp here. It seems inappropriate now, the way he treated some of the girls." They recalled seeing him eating at Rax on Route 58 every night, sometimes with his classroom assistants. 2 Suspects. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. "We were close. Signed the visitor log book with their phone numbers, Abruptly quit teaching in 2003 without notice and moved to Florida. 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. I ask. Investigators think it could have been an old quilt turned into a curtain. The man asked Ryan if he wanted a ride to school. I remember when he saw one girl with a skirt that was way too short, he said, 'That's not appropriate, but I'm glad you wore it to my class.' Amy Mihaljevic Popularity . 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. That obsession leads James to a successful career as an investigative journalist. Initial evidence found at the scene suggested that she had been dumped there shortly after her abduction, maybe on the day itself. This student, Dan, said that he and his teacher communicated via letters a lot, which later turned sexual in nature. Im not sure how he explained to Amy that he knew that her mother had gotten a promotion on October 27th on that fateful phone call. We know where Amy was abducted. It appears Dan stopped hanging out with Runkle in the fall of 1989. http://www.. He worked for the bureau for 30 years, the last 20 devoted to crimes against children. By Dateline NBC. New DNA evidence could help solve the decades old mystery. "That's Dean!" He was released from police custody. Most of these killers have what psychologists deem a thrill-seeking personality.. Amy was last seen walking away from the plaza, toward the parking lot, with that man. 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. Amy Mihaljevic's cause of death was determined to be homicide by stabbing. 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. On that Top 25 list, he would be the man at the top. Ken Lanning dislikes the word "profiler" and seldom uses it, but that's what most people would call him. After high school, he went to Bowling Green, where he majored in education with a focus in biology. He asked them if they remembered writing their names and home numbers in a logbook by the front doors. For more info about Amy's case, you can read through the blog I've devoted to it since 2006. He said knowing where the curtain came from and who it belonged to is so important right now. But it was never inappropriate.". 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. Amy Renee Mihaljevic (11 Dcembre 1978 - Le . "I've been able to tear down this wall. 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. I call. I spoke to him last week to better understand the mind and behavior of the man who killed Amy Mihaljevic. See pictures of the handmade curtain and blanket here. These other girls went to school in North Olmsted and were roughly the same age as Amy, about 10 or 11. Another close timeframe, so its another no from me. She steadily declined for years until she left Bay Village in the 1990s and relocated to the Cleveland area. Runkle!" Both witness accounts corroborated each other. There were at least three others. All four girls, who received suspicious phone calls (with Amy being the last one), have visited it in the weeks before the abduction and may have written their names and phone numbers in a logbook by the front doors. The FBI believes the murder was actually committed in the remote rural area surrounding Bay Village to avoid being seen. 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 . (MINDSHOCK TRUE CRIME PODCAST CLIPS)Examining the "NEW" suspect, and "NEW" evidence being reported in February . "What's the reward?" Keeping all this in mind, only a handful of strong suspects remain. Real Name: Amy Renee Mihaljevic Nicknames: No known nicknames Location: Bay Village, Ohio Date: October 27, 1989 Amy Mihaljevic. . He knew Amy and her friends. Renner never got in touch with him again. 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? 2.1 Dean Runkle; 3 References; 4 Further reading; She had contracted lupus, along with several other health issues. The offender is identified to be a white male. 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. The third girl took horseback riding lessons at Holly Hill Ranch, the very same ranch that Amy took lessons from. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. 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. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. Amy passes her blue antique bicycle, which she peddled to school that morning, and heads east on Wolf Road. Last weekend, I paid him a visit. 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. Were pursuing more so the angle of science now than we ever have in the past because DNA changes every couple of months, Elish said. But be careful not to try to fit a square peg in a round hole, he warns. Categories Posted Recently. In 1994, Christina Adkins says she overheard Runkle say something that shocked her. For more info about Amy's case, you can read through the blog I've devoted to it since 2006. Ryan was terrified, said no thank you to the man and quickly ran away to school. She was popular, funny, kind and energetic. It was a tragic year for the Runkles; the family's first home burned to the ground too. Amy may have resisted and fought back - indeed, her fingernails were chipped, according to the coroner's report - causing her abductor to become violent in order to regain control. 4.5 stars This book is about a young reporter's unceasing quest to find out what happened to Amy Mihaljevic. The only thing that these girls had in common was the fact that they visited the Lake Erie Nature . For their part, Bay Village police detectives do not consider Runkle as the only suspect in the case and continue to work all leads. I quickly began to see why this man was on the FBI's list of priorities. Adkins says she and other young girls were questioned about Runkle's behavior by the superintendent in 1995. Detectives kept trying to focus in on what he knew about Amys disappearance, but the suspect would not answer the questions. Runkle also seemed to have volunteered in the Lake Erie Nature and Science Center in Bay Village at the time of the murder. The story of her unsolved kidnapping and murder were presented by John Walsh on the television show America's Most . 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. New info and they are asking for help from the public. He told them he needed their help to pick out a present and asked them to come with him to the store. On Oct. 27, 1989, Amy was lured to Bay Square shopping plaza by a man who had previously called Amy at her home. Mixed opinions from former students (Renner, 2008). Kids no longer answered phone calls. "There have not been many [photos] that have been this close," she says. Over time the letters became sexual in nature. And it seems that there's finally some break in the case. There were phone calls made to other girls that were just like the one Amy received. DR is to this case what Leigh Allen is the the Zodiac. They become confident with their methods, so they start getting sloppy and leaving evidence behind. Four months after her kidnapping in 1989, of which the 32nd anniversary falls on Wednesday, Amy's body was discovered in . "He made comments about girls' outfits. Call the Bay Village Police Department at 440-871-1234. Search for a Topic. 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. Amy Mihaljevic, United States Unclassified. Amy is . The calls all came at times when the children were at home, and the parents were typically at work. Published: Oct. 25, 2021 at 7:26 PM PDT. 4. Family Life. The three-hour special, premiering 9 p.m. Sunday on ID, takes a deep dive into the still-unsolved 1989 murder of 10-year-old Amy Mihaljevic, who lived in a town on the shores of Lake Erie. According to reporter James Renner, Dean Runkle is a possible prime suspect in the FBI investigation. That night, Amys photo appeared on the evening news. The police also released a letter to all households with school-age children asking if they had received any mysterious phone calls similar to the one that lured Amy out to the shopping center.
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