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 . July 12, 202211 items. he says. She jogs a little to catch up with Olivia Masiak. But Amy told her brother, Jason, and her friend, Kristy Balas, about the phone calls. 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. Her murder case raised national attention. He starts to leave. Several students say they were invited back to Runkle's apartment after school. Amy Mihaljevic's cause of death was determined to be homicide by stabbing. Earlier that day, Amy and Olivia had sat together at a school assembly and listened to a rookie policeman named Mark Spaetzel give a "meet your friendly local officer" presentation. There were phone calls made to other girls that were just like the one Amy received. Send a News Tip. The handyman was brought in for questioning, but was quickly eliminated as a suspect once his alibi was corroborated by multiple people. Eventually, their method of killing starts to bore them, and the killer needs more drama, risk and excitement with each new victim. The girl became frightened and immediately hung up the phone. Amy Mihaljevic is a famous Child murder victim. 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. Disappearance and Murder. Amy Renee Mihaljevic (11 Dcembre 1978 - Le . At this point, the case was still considered a missing persons case, as Amys body would not be found until months later. He shrugs. Did you see this curtain hanging in someone's house? By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. A Catastrophic Cyber Event in the Next 2-Years; Youth Pastor and Foster Dad in Florida Accused of Human Trafficking; Downtown Denver Dying? Runkle is an interesting suspect for many reasons. But when she arrived, the school was already closed for the day and no one could help her. He looked after me when we lived at the shelter together a couple years ago. inappropriate behavior and unwanted physicality? "I said, 'I know you're the one who killed Amy,'" she recalls. Amy Mihaljevic Popularity . Mark remarried about six years after Amys disappearance in 1995. In 2008, I learned of a man named Dean Runkle, who was once a teacher in the small Cleveland suburb of Amherst. 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. See pictures of the handmade curtain and blanket here. DR is to this case what Leigh Allen is the the Zodiac. He didnt seem to even know where he was. . Her killer has never been apprehended. Dean Runkle himself denies any involvement in the murder of Amy Mihaljevic and the FBI has never officially declared him a suspect. 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. Whoever this predator was, he had robbed Bay Village of its peace and sense of safety. This further confirms the theory that this curtain was used to conceal Amys body as she was driven from the crime scene to corn field, because the dog hairs wouldve been transferred onto Amys clothing. All four girls, who received . The story of her unsolved kidnapping and murder was one of the first cases presented by John Walsh on the television show, America's Most Wanted during . ALSO, Dean Runkle has NOT been named as a suspect. Submissions. Two witnesses said they saw Amy that day with a man who would now be in his mid-50s or early '60s. This can suggest a couple of things about the behavioral profile of the killer. Multiple witnesses say that he matches the man they saw . Renner, your stuff is interesting, but ad hominem attacks . Her murder case received national attention. There is a press conference scheduled for tomorrow morning at 11 a.m. EST. Searchers discovered Amy's body on February 9, 1990. But the only student they know who went inside was a boy named Dan, who attended Sailorway Middle School. He was very touchy." It's hard to tell what might be ailing Runkle, though, because, at 65, he could easily pass for 45. Remember back to 1989. Amy told her mother she was ok and that she was at home now, and then quickly hung up. The FBI believes the murder was actually committed in the remote rural area surrounding Bay Village to avoid being seen. Many of these men have no alibis for the afternoon of October 27, 1989. Mixed opinions from former students (Renner, 2008). Amy Mihaljevic disappeared on October 27, 1989. Sept. 21, 2021, 5:41 PM PDT. At one point in the last year before Amy disappeared, all the victims had visited a local nature center in Bay Village at least once, either on their own time or during school field trips. The only thing that all these girls had in common was that they had visited the local Lake Erie Nature and Science Center, which kept a visitors logbook by the front door. Recently, she saw a suspect's photo on the blog I've maintained since publishing a book about the unsolved case. . 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. They also start taking trophies. She just got a promotion. 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. In 1987, Runkle set a few thousand dollars aside in a trust for Dan, according to Dan's mother. Initial evidence found at the scene suggested that she had been dumped there shortly after her abduction, maybe on the day itself. None had ever talked to a reporter, until they found me in 2006. They had a safe place to take her to incapacitate her, sexually assault her and murder her, all without detection. 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. Runkle stops and answers them for a while. A suspect has never been identified. Mark Spaetzel and a retired FBI agent had interviewed employees about a man who might have volunteered there in 1989. It's a day investigators have pored over for decades: October 27, 1989 -- when 10-year-old Amy Mihaljevic disappeared from Bay Village, Ohio. The new information still led to no significant new leads or suspects. 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Her body was found four months later, in a field in rural Ashland County. Runkle says he doesn't ever remember being physical with his female students, either. a suburb of Cleveland. Almost 30 years later, Amys killer is still at large. 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. without collection a pension that was owed to him (Renner, 2008). 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 . Whether it came out of that persons house, whether it came out of the location where Amy was killed. Blood was also found inside of her underwear. I was always at school. "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. "There have not been many [photos] that have been this close," she says. 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. Sure enough, all the employees there recognize Runkle's picture - he's a manager, but he's not working today. It's . After he returned, Runkle began building his own nature center inside his classroom. 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. The calls all came at times when the children were at home, and the parents were typically at work. Some recognize him as a piano player in local bars, but these tips don't get me any closer. Her murder case raised national attention. The FBI, currently offering an up to $25,000 reward for any information, has never let this case go cold. . He was an accomplished ragtime piano player and played in the Red Garter Saloon at Cedar Point during the summers. By We know where Amy was abducted. The owners let the man live on the property in exchange for cleaning out the stables. And, because he was in the suburban Ohio area in 1989, authorities think that he can be behind Amys death. "He's one of those men who makes you feel uncomfortable when you're alone with them," she says. Her dirty-blonde hair hangs, a little disheveled, over her earrings - turquoise horse heads, mounted on gold studs. Amy attended the local middle school, and her older brother Jason attended the local high school in 1989. 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 1989where Runkle frequently volunteered (Renner, 2008). 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. . "I walk a lot," he says. Science teacher from the area, lived in Ashland County and grew up. A large volunteer search party with dogs and flashlights found nothing. Amy Mihaljevic disappeared on October 27, 1989. All rights reserved. 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. 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. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. James Renner These other girls went to school in North Olmsted and were roughly the same age as Amy, about 10 or 11. 2.1 Dean Runkle; 3 References; 4 Further reading; It didn't. For more info about Amy's case, you can read through the blog I've devoted to it since 2006. Amy Mihaljevic disappeared in 1989 when she was ten years old. 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. He was like a son. We dont know what happened in between there, he said. She was never seen again. The Ashland County field where Amy Mihaljevic's body was discovered on February 8, 1990. Amy's case remains open to this day, and the Bay Village police have never let her case go cold in almost 30 years. As is the case in many child abductions, I believe the motive in Amys case was sexual assault, but then Amy couldve identified the perpetrator, so she had to be killed. By Nichole Vrsansky. A search warrant for the suspects house was executed, but no evidence linking the man to Amy was found. Dean Runkle. Over time the letters became sexual in nature. Fox 8 reported there was a red spot on her underwear, it was blood, most likly Amy's. This can be found on James site May 9th 2007 Autopsy. But no one knows Runkle. 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. Police considered it another dead end. 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. 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. Search. Cookie Notice 1949). 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. 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 was a difficult time in my life," he says. At the time of the crime, he was wearing a beige windbreaker with plaid lining, front-pressed khakis, and a button-up shirt. So by definition, the 3 are still the "most likely suspects". Adkins says she and other young girls were questioned about Runkle's behavior by the superintendent in 1995. Lamborgine, reputed to be one of the leaders of a pedophile ring, lived in Cleveland and within close proximity to Mihalevic for years. But I answered the FBI's questions, I took their lie detector test and they haven't done anything to me. It was . Multiple witnesses say that he matches the man they saw with Amy the day she vanished. By James Renner on Wed, Nov 12, 2008 at 4:00 am. 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.