Amy Mihaljevic--abducted 10/27/1989 & found murdered --still unsolved

[Lovinlife]

http://www.morningjournal.com/articles/2009/10/25/news/mj1784546.txt

Search for Amy's killer renewed: Billboards go up 20 years after her abduction

By MEGAN ROZSA
mrozsa@MorningJournal.com

It will be 20 years on Tuesday since 10-year-old Amy Mihaljevic was kidnapped at one of the most public spots in Bay Village and later murdered. Her killer has never been found, and today the manhunt is getting a new push.

Billboards have gone up in Amherst and other spots around Greater Cleveland, showing pony-tailed Amy's smiling, perky face alongside the message "20 years is too long to wait for an answer. Do you know who killed Amy? CALL ... Bay Village Police (440) 871-1234, FBI (216) 522-1400."

On Oct. 27, 1989, Amy was a fifth-grader at Bay Middle School. She was last seen near a Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream Store at the Bay Square Shopping Center in the center of town, directly across Wolf Road from the police station.

Amy had been lured there to meet a man who posed as a work friend of her mother, on the pretext of going to buy Amy's mother a surprise gift.

Amy's disappearance set off an intense three-month, nationwide search, which ended in tears on Feb. 8, 1990. That morning, a jogger found Amy's lifeless body lying facedown in a clover patch in a field along County Road 1181 in northern Ashland County. The coroner said she had died of a fatal stab wound to her neck.

Her killer remains at large though police and FBI officials offered a reward of $60,000 for a tip leading to the arrest and conviction of Amy's killer.

They are still searching today.

The Bay Village Police Department is working in conjunction with the FBI, Clear Channel and Lamar Advertising to display new billboards across Northeast Ohio. Bay Police Chief David Wright hopes that partnering with the media will remind the public of how important this case still is.

"We want to get the case in front of the public eye and we are excited to do that," Wright said. "Time has elapsed, but certainly we believe there are people out there who know what happened."

Since 1989, he said the police department has received almost 70,000 pieces of information and interviewed more than 16,000 people. The list of suspects remains daunting.

"It's hard to put a number on how many suspects there are," Wright said. "But I'm sure we've already talked to him."

Wright, now in his 29th year with Bay Village police, said, "We still get a tip a month, amazingly enough.

"It's incredible for being 20 years after that it's still on people's minds. But around this time and February, we'll get a dozen tips. A lot of it is stuff we've already heard about but you never know what the next phone call will bring."

Bay Village Mayor Deborah Sutherland said the police department is offering a $25,000 reward leading to the arrest and conviction of Amy's killer.

"We are partnering with the FBI in trying to publicize again that we are continuing to investigate this case," Sutherland said. "We appreciate help and encourage people to call the police with tips."

One silent testament to Amy's life is the memorial tree planted by Bay Middle School students long ago. It is now at the corner of Wolf and Dover Center roads where it has grown larger, while Amy never got the chance to grow up.

Had she not been snatched and killed, Amy would have been 30 years old, perhaps a mother herself, and looking ahead to her 31st birthday on Dec. 11.

Soon after she vanished, Amy's face was known nationwide. "Inside Edition" aired her story, and soon the FBI was getting tips from all over the country from people who thought they knew someone who matched drawings of a suspect.

Investigators have interviewed several suspects, heard alibis and even a false confession. But the question still remains: Who killed Amy?

Author James Renner is just a couple of months older than Amy. He grew up in Northeast Ohio and recalls seeing the posters with Amy's face plastered all over after she was abducted.

"Being the same ages drove home that this could happen to me or any of us," Renner said. "I then realized that there were adults out there that could harm us. There were evil people in the world."

At age 11, Renner made it his goal "in a very naive way" to find Amy. He would go to Westgate Mall in Fairview Park and wait to no avail to spot a man who looked like the police sketches of Amy's abductor.

"When they found her body, that really kind of hit me and stayed with me," Renner said. "I told myself that when I grew up, if I became a detective, or in my case a journalist, I would take a try at trying to find her killer and to solve this mystery."

Currently Renner leads a blog called "My Search for Amy Mihaljevic's Killer," and he is the author of the book "Amy: My Search for Her Killer."

"I think they (FBI) appreciate the attention I've brought to the case and the leads that have come in — even if we disagree on certain aspects of the case," Renner said. "Since I started talking, thousands of leads have come in. I've been trying to winnow away at the list of suspects."

Renner said there are hundreds of men with the means and the motive to commit the same crime as Amy's killer. Renner most recently has focused his suspicions on a former Amherst and Vermilion school teacher, who now lives in Key West, Fla., and once lived not far from where Amy's body was found.

Amy's parents divorced. Her father, Mark, has since been remarried to Georgette Mihaljevic and lives in Avon. He remains hopeful that before he dies, Amy's case will be solved. He is now 62.

"Around this time of year, he gets very depressed and introspective," his wife said. "Just thinking about how old she would have been and what she would have been doing in her life. He thinks about it a lot especially this time of year because there's so much there to remind you."

In October 2001, Amy's mother, Margaret McNulty, died from complications due to chronic alcoholism. At the time, McNulty's mother, Henrietta McNulty, told The Morning Journal Amy's mother "could not get a real hold on a happy life anymore. Everything just turned her off. I'm sure this is what really brought on her death."

Chief Wright wouldn't comment on how close he thinks the Amy case is to being solved, but he hopes the new billboards will encourage more tips. Wright said he hopes the 25th anniversary of Amy's disappearance is a time to celebrate because her killer will have been caught.

"No piece of information is too small," he noted.

[Lovinlife]

http://amymihaljevic.blogspot.com/

[trimmonthelake]

[MuffyBee]

Thank you monks for bringing this here.  It's never too late for justice, imo.  I hope the person/persons responsible for Amy's abduction and murder will be found, brought to trial  and receive the punishment they have coming to them.   Amy Mihaljevic deserves justice.  It's perhaps the only thing we can do for her now.  Thank you for posting the nice pictures of her.      

[Lovinlife]

I started this thread to let everyone here know that 20 years ago today, a little girl went with someone who she thought was going to help her pick out a present for her mom and ended up dead in a cold snowy field.  Her killer has not been caught and her and her family deserve justice.  There is a lot of information out there if you look.  One great place to find info: http://amymihaljevic.blogspot.com/.  Hopefully I will see this thread moved to "finally solved".
 

[Lovinlife]

After 2 decades the search for killer continues.

Police take the Amy Mihaljevic probe statewide.
By Ken Robinson, Newsradio WTAM 1100
Check out Ken's personality page
Sunday, October 25, 2009

(Cleveland) - Billboards are displaying the image of Amy Mihaljevic. The 10 year old Bay Village girl who was kidnapped 20 years ago this Tuesday.

The fifth grader was found murdered, after last being since near an ice cream store at the Bay Square Shopping Center.

Cleveland FBI spokesman Scott Wilson says the billboards were put up statewide with the cooperation of Clear Channel Outdoor and Lamar Advertising. He's hoping someone will step forward with information that will lead investigators to the killer. There's a $25,000 reward available.

Wilson explains that calls can be made anonymously to the Bay Village Police at 440-871-1234, or the FBI at 216-522-1400.

On February 8, 1990, Amy's body was found in a field off of County Road 1181, Ruggles Township in Ashland County.

Evidence found at the scene of the crime suggests that Amy's body was probably dumped there shortly after her abduction. There were signs that her body had been previously stored in a relatively cool place.

Based on findings by the Cuyahoga County coroner, Amy's last meal was some sort of soy substance, possibly an artificial chicken product or Chinese food.

Other evidence includes the presence of yellow/gold colored fibers on her body. It appears her killer also took several souvenirs including the girl's horse-riding boots, her denim backpack, a binder with "Buick, Best in Class" written on the front clasp, and turquoise earrings in the shape of horse heads.

The Bay Village Police and the FBI conducted an extensive investigation into her disappearance and murder. The case generated thousands of leads. Dozens of suspects were asked to take lie-detector tests, but no one has ever been charged with the crime.

http://www.wtam.com/cc-common/news/sections/newsarticle.html?feed=122520&article=6214934

[trimmonthelake]

http://chronicle.northcoastnow.com/2009/10/28/police-fbi-hope-billboards-generate-leads-in-20-year-old-amy-mihaljevic-case/
Police, FBI hope billboards generate leads in 20-year-old Amy Mihaljevic case
Cindy Leise

The FBI, Bay Village Police and Crimestoppers are hoping a billboard campaign will bring in new tips in the 1989 kidnapping and killing of 10-year-old Amy Mihaljevic of Bay Village.

Tuesday was the 20th anniversary of Amy’s disappearance from the Bay Square Shopping Center.

Billboards offering a $25,000 reward are going up around this area in hopes of finally making an arrest, FBI spokesman Scott Wilson said.

“The Bay Village Police and the FBI felt because it was the 20th anniversary that we wanted to get the story back out to the general public,” Wilson said.

Clear Channel Billboards and Lamar Digital Displays are participating in the effort, Wilson said.

The billboards ask anyone with information to call (216) 522-1400 — the number for the Cleveland office of the FBI.

Bay Village Police and the Cleveland office of the FBI are hoping a billboard campaign may generate new leads on the Amy Mihaljevic case, 20 years after the girl was abducted in Bay Village.

Amy — who became known from her picture in which she wore a sideways pony tail and a shy smile — disappeared after meeting a man who told her he wanted her help to buy a present to celebrate a promotion he said her mother was getting.

Some of the children from Amy’s school saw her at the shopping center with the man and helped police create a composite drawing of her abductor.

All hopes of finding Amy alive ended Feb. 8, 1990, when a jogger found Amy’s body along a rural road in Ashland County. She had been hit on the head and stabbed in the neck.

Over the years, a number of persons of interest have emerged, but no one has been charged in her abduction and death.
With the right tip, authorities could crack the case, Wilson said.

“Hopefully, we’ll have some closure and find out who did that to Amy,” Wilson said.

Contact Cindy Leise at 329-7245 or cleise@chroniclet.com.

[Lovinlife]

This image ran in the Cleveland Plain Dealer 10/28/2009

[MuffyBee]

This image ran in the Cleveland Plain Dealer 10/28/2009

 


Poor little angel    I hope there will be justice for Amy. 

[trimmonthelake]

http://www.westlifenews.com/2009/11-04/amym.html
Police hope signs help solve Amy case
By Jeff Gallatin
Bay Village
Published Nov. 4, 2009

After 20 years, law enforcement officials and a writer determined to solve the kidnapping and murder of a young Bay Village girl have made their plea for help bigger and bolder all around Ohio.

Bay Village Police and the FBI, in conjunction with Clear Channel Communications outdoor division for the Cleveland market, have set up seven billboards on major roadways around Northeast Ohio seeking information and offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to the solving of the Amy Mihaljevic case. In addition, writer James Renner, who has written numerous articles and a book about the case, purchased two additional billboards from Clear Channel. He has also gotten several other billboards from Lamar Advertising placed all over Ohio.

Workers put up the billboards last week as part of the 20th anniversary of Mihaljevic’s kidnapping. When the 10-year-old Mihaljevic disappeared on her way home from school Oct. 27, 1989, it led to a massive search involving thousands of law enforcement officers and volunteers determined to find the outgoing young girl. When her body was found months later in a field in Ashland County, efforts to find her killer continued, with thousands of leads being followed up by law enforcement officers and followed with close scrutiny by millions of people around the nation. Now, 20 years later, the case remains unsolved, but efforts to solve the kidnapping and murder continue unabated.
Detective Lt. Mark Spaetzel of the Bay Village Police Department said since the billboards went up, additional leads have come in.

“We’ve gotten about 15 leads since then,” he said. “The leads don’t really indicate specifically whether the billboards prompted them, but they certainly do get people’s attention when you look at them.”

Spaetzel said the type of leads received recently vary.

“Some of it is old information, but other leads are new and are being checked out,” he said. “We still follow up leads all the time.”

Spaetzel cited a 45-minute interview he did with someone on the case the previous week.

“It’s not something we’re going to let go of until we get the case solved,” he said. “We got the billboards from Clear Channel because of its partnership with the FBI to put up information for the Bureau. I’m sure they’ll help us out as well.”

Scott Wilson, an agent in the FBI Cleveland office, said Clear Channel has provided strong assistance to the FBI with the billboard program, which advertises information about fugitives and different cases.
“It’s something we appreciate them doing,” he said. “There are a lot of good ways to gather information, and this is one which has been successful.”

Wilson said the FBI remains committed to solving the case as well.

“We’ll continue to work with the Bay Village Police Department and give them whatever assistance they need from us,” he said. “We have an agent who continues to work on the case, and we have other resources as well.”

David Yale, vice president of public affairs for Clear Channel’s Cleveland outdoor market, said the company posts the billboards as a public service.

“It’s something we believe in doing and that the FBI has told us is successful,” he said. “This is a case with a high profile, so we’re glad to help out.’

Renner said he has already gotten additional contacts on his Web site and about the case since the billboards went up.

“It’s something I work on everyday,” he said. “The billboards have a high visibility. I’ve already heard from someone who saw it while driving down the highway. I’m sure we’ll get useful information from this.’

Renner said he appreciate both Clear Channel and Lamar helping out.
“I wanted to do something with the 20th anniversary being this year,” he said. “It’s just going to take the right person coming forward. After 20 years, I believe the killer has had to talk about it somewhere.”

Spaetzel said there has been a high number of tips, interviews and contacts.

“We’re talking over 20,000 right now,” Spaetzel said. “That’s a huge amount of information.”

Spaetzel said there’s a good possibility police have at least come across the killer somehow.

“We’ve investigated thousands of leads and talked to many people,” Spaetzel said. “There’s a good chance that we’ve at least come in contact with the killer. We just need that one clue or piece of information that puts the case together and we can get the arrest.”

When that day comes, Spaetzel said he’ll be making a lot of contacts himself, but said the first phone call will be to Mihaljevic’s father, Mark.

“We stay in touch and talk,” he said. “when it comes, he’ll be the first.”

[Lovinlife]

Snipped from: http://amymihaljevic.blogspot.com/2010/03/tina-harmon-documents-reveal-amy.html

There it is. They have some DNA associated with the Mihaljevic case that can be used for comparison analysis. It also proves Bay Village is still diligently at work in the 20 year old cold case.

[Lovinlife]

http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/local_news/attorneys-for-frank-dienes-say-hell-be-cleared-in-mihaljevic-case-again

Attorneys for Frank Dienes say he'll be cleared in Mihaljevic case again
Posted: 05/12/2011

By: Paul Kiska, newsnet5.com
CLEVELAND - Frank Dienes's attorneys said they have been contacted by Bay Village police who are looking at Dienes in connection with the Amy Mihajlevic case.

Police first questioned him about Amy in 1995.

 ::snipping2::

Dienes is charged with aggravated murder in the Kopp case and has never been charged in the Mihajlevic case. Bay Village police said they are looking at Dienes for any possible connection with Amy’s murder in 1989.

Video at link

[Sister]

http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/local_news/attorneys-for-frank-dienes-say-hell-be-cleared-in-mihaljevic-case-again

Attorneys for Frank Dienes say he'll be cleared in Mihaljevic case again
Posted: 05/12/2011

By: Paul Kiska, newsnet5.com
CLEVELAND - Frank Dienes's attorneys said they have been contacted by Bay Village police who are looking at Dienes in connection with the Amy Mihajlevic case.

Police first questioned him about Amy in 1995.

 ::snipping2::

Dienes is charged with aggravated murder in the Kopp case and has never been charged in the Mihajlevic case. Bay Village police said they are looking at Dienes for any possible connection with Amy’s murder in 1989.

Video at link

Thanks for posting this Lovin.  It is good to know LE hasn't given up.

[trimmonthelake]

http://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2011/07/06/judge-scolds-frank-dienes-for-playin-crazy
Judge Scolds Frank Dienes for Playin' Crazy
Posted by Kyle Swenson on Wed, Jul 6, 2011 at 9:31 AM
 ::snipping2::
News 5 was in the courtroom, and the video below has clips of Russo’s comments. He says Dienes was given a 22-day examination, and throughout he tried to present himself with the ““false appearance of ‘I’ve-got-a-problem-Judge-I-don’t-understand-what-the-heck’s-going-on.’” But while he faked hallucinations for doctors, the defendant also allegedly played games of chess with other inmates and held intelligent conversations with his wife during (recorded) jail visits.

“You can take your chess pieces and move them around, but you can’t talk to me,” Russo scolded. The crazy act cost Dienes — Russo hiked up his bail to $1 million.

Video at link.