Amy Mihaljevic - Suspects /// Part 2 /// 346 | Forensic Files

foreign [Music] foreign foreign garage wherever you are whatever you are doing thanks for listening I'm your host
Nick and with me as always is a man who bets on JV football he is the very broke Captain I don't want your
life it's good to be seen and it's good to see you thanks for listening and thanks for telling a friend
[Music] this week we are drinking scissor kick by the beer ninjas over at Kings County
Brewers Collective this is a double dry hopped IPA featuring a massive mid-air karate style edition of Simcoe hops they
also use something called x14 which is a fruity new experimental hop grown exclusively on Long Island garage grade
a big four and a half bottle caps out of five and this week we are practicing High karate because of our good garage
friends right here first up a huge thank you and cheers to Justine and the kcbc team out in Brooklyn yeah and somebody
that likes a little naughty karate Megan from Kettering Ohio next up we have Landon and Lauren from Sanger Texas
Landon and Lauren love listening to TCG while road tripping there's a cloud with
vein and it's bleeding on me and a big wheel like your jib to Lori and Vancouver Washington all right Captain
next up we have Kristen in the far off Alaska and last but certainly not least we have Stephanie up in Markham Ontario
Canada everyone that we just mentioned went to True Crime garage.com that's our website and they donated to this week's
beer fund and for that we very much thank you and for everything true crime check out our website truecrime
garage.com you can donate to the show you can buy a t-shirt you can sign up on the mailing list you can add to the blog
you can do whatever you want at truecrime garage.com and that is enough of the beers Nest all right
everybody gather around grab a chair grab a beer let's talk some true crime [Music]
foreign [Music] Ashland County warn of a passing train a tragedy averted the sights along County
Road 1181 warn of a tragedy committed white ribbons have been strung in memory of Amy mihalovic Amy's body was
discovered right alongside 1181 last week the ground has been scraped by investigators for soil sample analysis
another portion is covered with flowers left by shocked residents who now have more personal reasons to help in finding
Amy's killer because he was bent down so I couldn't see him that well Larry Schuster has told the FBI an amazing
story on the day Amy's body was found Schuster says he saw a suspicious looking stranger drive back and forth
near the discovery site and he claims the driver looked very much like the police composite sketch of Amy's
abductor as I was leaving coming up towards 224 that's when I seen him going back down again
back up I think he was coming up this way to see what was going on and see if anybody found him found the girl Amy
mihalovic is one girl this community will never forget as a card on the flowers proclaims from the people of New
London Ohio we're sorry Amy there is not only a sense of pity being shown by the people of Ashland County
but also a sense of precaution as well even though many neighbors tell me in their opinion Amy was probably killed
someplace else they say they plan to play it safe just in case her abductor is still in the area this is the land on
which Kenneth Meyer has spent much of his life as a grain farmer and a frequent Hunter he says he now has
frequent thoughts about Amy I told my wife the other day I said you know you see this on TV all the time where they
go out in the country and find a body I said but you never figure it's going to happen right in your back door
Meyers claims children are being watched more closely as well as property while the community awaits the arrest of Amy
mihalovic's killer in Ashland County Jack Marshall reporting for the 10 o'clock news
[Music] all right we have three more suspects to get to before we wrap up for this week
now I know which one I would like to end the week on so two to choose from where
do you want to go next Captain do you want to talk about a suspect who has been on my mind a lot lately or would
you like to talk about the people's suspect Dean Runkle you know how in wrestling they got the people's champ
well I would I would call Dean Runkle the people's suspect because anytime we've spoke about this case Helen from
Parts Unknown yeah that's the guy that we get the most emails about or the most blog posts
about let's talk about the the first guy because he's been on my mind too okay so
the the suspect that's been on my mind a lot lately is Kenneth Robert Stanton he
was a one-time Moraine Ohio resident he pled guilty to 13 molestation cases he received 60 years in a Georgia prison
now back in the 60s Stanton was charged with sex crimes involving children and committed to a state hospital in the
state of Michigan from which he escaped he later was caught and arrested and recommitted he
was diagnosed at the time as a criminal sexual psychopath years later he was declared to be fit to live in society
and released now I know a lot of people are going to rele you know maybe laugh at those weird
statements being back to back like that but look in the 60s and the 70s a lot of
states did operate that way they believe that this type of stuff could be you could be rehabilitated and they
would issue you back out into society now let's get into him in detail because he's very very interesting for many
reasons now in 1989 he was molesting young girls who were home alone this is believed to have started in
Jackson Mississippi he would pretend to be either a police officer or a food safety inspector right
he's using this method to get into the home with these girls that are alone yeah he's using a ruse
yeah he would knock on the door basically he would he would follow these girls around make sure that they're
going to be home alone knock on the door and he's presenting himself as an authority figure a police officer or a
food safety inspector giving them reason to one trust him and two to let him into
the home to look into whatever it is he's claiming he he's there for once inside the home his typical Mo was
to blindfold and molest the girl now in the summer of 1989 one of his victims began screaming so loud from inside the
home that Stanton was scared away a neighbor boy heard the screams and this draws his attention to what's
going on right and he sees Stanton fleeing the property the boy God bless him wrote down
Stanton's license plate number got him yep he gives this to the police after the girl calls in the complaint and then
later once they have his you know driver's license photo they have some photo of him the girl
identifies from that photo Stanton as the assailant rather than be arrested he flees the
area he was suspected of assaults not only of several in Mississippi but also in the
state of Alabama and Georgia as well his car his vehicle was found abandoned in Ohio in December of 1989. so
first let's think about his timeline for a bit we have him molesting girls young girls
nine ten years old he's using a ruse to get into their home and then once he's caught for this or suspected of this
with with two witnesses two eyewitnesses he flees the area and that is in the summer of 89. now his vehicle is found
in December of 89. the thing here is you have to fill in the gaps but we know that his vehicle
was found abandoned in the state of Ohio so that would put him somewhere in the area
now let's think about his previous crimes in MO for a minute right right he's molesting these girls he's using
the ruse using a ruse to get into their home right he's a criminal sexual psychopath as they
labeled him he's using a fake identity on a girl home alone and the victimology is
similar it's so similar in fact it's girls of the same age living in nice neighborhoods yeah
but fear not because then the FBI adds Kenneth Robert Stanton to their 10 most wanted list
and then one of True Crime garage's favorite old shows Unsolved Mysteries featured the Stanton case on the October
24th 1990 episode of their great show maybe you could help solve a mystery that's right and some people were able
to help solve a mystery because viewers of the show started calling in with tips
that Stanton was living in a trailer park in Moraine Ohio well Captain guess who else was watching
Unsolved Mysteries that night well the Pervert On The Run Kenneth sicko Stanton saw his face on TV so
Stanton took off again and Stan is smart and scared enough to run but like a behavior that we've discussed
several times on this show he can't help himself his addiction owns him it controls him
he is addicted to molesting young girls to victimizing girls yeah so even you'll see this with all types of
of criminals repeat offenders serial offenders sexual predators no matter what situation they're in no
matter how scared they are or if they're already running from law enforcement if
they see someone that fits their victimology and an opportunity to assault rape kill whatever it is that
they are into because they're so absolutely addicted to their desire result and outcome of that victim and
that opportunity so just five days after Stanton flees from Ohio after seeing his face on TV he
sees an opportunity a nine-year-old girl and he can't help himself he tries to molest her thankfully he's unsuccessful
and he is arrested well let's let's think about this for a second because you have Killers such as like Dahmer
which will say that he he did this thing and and he he killed a guy and he's never going to do it again we we hear
these guys talk about their urges and how they're trying to control them and and there were it's almost like a drug
uh addict you know if you read like Miles Davis's book he'll say and that's the last time I did heroin and and then
the next pages and then I was in New York doing heroin and it's very similar to some of the stuff uh Ted Bundy would
talk about but again remember when Ted Bundy was on the run in Florida it's almost like
um this stress the heightened stress makes the addiction stronger with these individuals yeah it's it's it's exactly
as said an addiction that you can't you can't get away from it and the the longer you are from it the the more it
increases so as said he thankfully he is unsuccessful this attack leads to his arrest this all takes place in a motel
in Rock Hill South Carolina so once again on the Run ultimately Stanton ends up pleading guilty to 13
molestation charges receiving a 60-year sentence eligible for parole after 40. but we can throw a parade because
Stanton did die in prison this was in August of 2011. so he's no longer a threat to communities there is no threat
that he will get out of prison he is thankfully no longer with us right Stanton got him the reason why I like
him for several reasons okay one he doesn't look unlike the composite drawing two he is already known to have been
using ruses that were working he's already trained himself to the level that his ruses are working to get
into the homes of these individuals now we've talked about how these serial offenders whatever crime it be they are
learning through trial and error and what got him caught was being in the home of the girl that he was victimizing
yeah she's screaming somebody from the outside hears these screams alerts them to hey something's going on and they see
this grown man running out the door running through the yard and getting into a car and that boy was smart enough
and had the wherewithal to write down this creeps license plate number so you're saying I'm saying maybe he
adapted and rather than knocking on the front door now he's going to use the telephone to enter their home yeah you
have to get out of there I got to get the victim to come out of the house I gotta get them to me rather than me
going to them because me going to them is what almost got me caught and now I'm on the run I'm up here in Ohio somewhere
wasn't there a bunch of speculation that uh the perpetrator's car would have been
like maybe in an Alleyway but probably that he didn't actually Park in if you look at pictures of the plaza where he
picked up Amy at uh it looks like there's a little parking lot in the middle yeah you could have had Amy walk
just a short distance before you would be not visible to most and have your car kind of
stashed there right so you create this ruse to get her out of the house the problem though is you're still
putting in her into a public area but then you're able to move your car out of the way and like you said a
little walk and and nobody's ID in the car right right and one thing I've wondered about
too is that if at some point did you could switch ruses completely when you're talking about a 10 year old right
so you you tell them at one point that you're you're going to take them somewhere that they may want to go go
shopping buy something for their mom I'll give you some money afterwards that is your ruse but at some point if she if
she starts to figure you out or or if you just want to change it completely to take
to take the lead you could present yourself as an authority figure you could say something to this child of
look you met a stranger at a location and you left with them you're in big trouble here young lady
right you're in big trouble if your parents find out about this you're going to be in big trouble I'm a police
officer I'm undercover and we're doing these type of operations and you can present yourself as some type of
authority figure it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility we'd at some point what we do know in cancer mice
just based off of simple logic at some point she knew that whatever he you know the shopping trip was not going to
happen at some point she knew he was not who he says he was and at some point he
took control of the situation now that could have been seconds before she was killed it could have been hours it could
have been days but we know that that happened at some point and that's why I go I go to him because the ruse that he
was using at the time is not terribly unsimilar to what was used against Amy but I think the problem with Stanton as
good as a suspect as I think that he makes and as good as a well it's terrible of a human being that
he is I mean we already the difference between oh [ __ ] well the difference between him and
several of the other suspects that that are often brought up is he is a known pedophile he is a he's been convicted
multiple times on multiple accounts we know that he is in fact this in fact somebody that would be looking for a
victim of this age and her gender the problem the problem is can you put him in the immediate area that day or
leading up to the abduction that gets very difficult to do because this man was already on the Run he's not
he's not got a permanent address on paper right right and that's that's again but that makes me
that makes him a better suspect in my mind since he is on the run that he has been able to have the ability to find
locations so the fact that you know it took so long um I mean what was it almost three
months between the abduction and when she was discovered correct this person would have uh the know-how
to find a location and and possibly have her there alive for a while um yeah as terrible as it is to say this
Stanton sicko Stanton he would have been skilled at this right unfortunately I mean it's it's not
his first time now the other thing too with him being on the Run captain that makes him interesting is
does he really need to be accounted for that day that evening the next day you know we we don't we don't have we don't
even know where he was right um we know he was on the run but he fled in the summer of 89.
we know that his vehicle was found in Ohio in December of 89 and then later we have reports that he was still in Ohio
in Moraine Ohio yeah in October of 1990. so we can't really put him in the immediate
area on October 27 1989 but we can put him in the state of Ohio for the uh the time
of the abduction roughly and the whole time that she was missing so he's an interesting suspect again the
issue becomes how did he get the phone numbers to contact these girls how did somebody on the Run
somebody unfamiliar with the area no ties to the area how would he have come into communication with with Amy plus
with the others that received phone calls that were connected to Amy's case right
in Amy's case and in others I'm not going to say all but it has been reported that the phone numbers were
unlisted so it's not as easy as some have pointed out where they say well you could have just been driving down the
street and saw a potential victim and followed her home and said oh they live at 123 James place I'm going to get into
the phone book and try to find that address and phone number and now I can call that number it's just it wasn't
that easy in in some of these cases so Stanton looks good because he would be the type of offender that would carry
this out the issue again is putting him there at that time and giving him the the
knowledge he would need to carry out a ruse that was similar to he had in other cases well I'm like you said before with
other suspects law enforcement saying they don't believe some of those suspects are capable of a crime like
this law enforcement is definitely probably saying hey yeah he's capable of this more than capable yes
foreign [Music] [Music] we're back you filthy animals every one of you filthy as hell
um okay so captain now let's get into Dane run Uncle our Dean Runkle info obviously has several sources but the
main source uh for the first part is a bombshell article from the Cleveland Scene titled Person of Interest the FBI
finally has a top suspect in the Amy mihalovic murder and this of course by James Renner and the article is from
2008. now the article starts off by repeating statements from an eyewitness on the day
Amy was abducted this states that the eyewitness saw a man walk up to Amy put his hand on her back he leans down to
whisper something in her ear then the man puts an arm around Amy's shoulders and leads her away
this eyewitness is Amy's age and describes the man as Caucasian his hair is thick he is wearing a beige
windbreaker with plaid lining front pressed khakis and a button-up shirt we'll come back to this eyewitness in a
bit the article states that just like Amy at least three others received phone calls similar to the one that Amy said
she received before she was abducted as we've commented over the years this number should be debatable we've seen
higher numbers but the words directly from law enforcement are that they believe there were two or three calls
related to Amy's case the girls in this article of course now they're they're grown up
these girls went to school in North Olmsted Ohio North Olmsted is about a 15-minute Drive south of Bay Village so
not far away and more importantly the Two Towns would have shared the same area code
216. this is important as it is believed that the call to Amy that set up the arrangement to meet at the bay Square
shopping center came from Amy's area code remember we talked about billing and how billing was conducted by the
phone companies back in 1989 right everybody who hears this case at the first they go well why the hell didn't
they just Trace that call they were only billing long distance calls differently
than local calls so there's no record of local calls because they don't bill for
them they just charge you for the monthly service same goes for these other two or three
calls they would have come from that 216 area code now that is still a huge area that's still a
large population but when we're talking about a case that has gone unsolved for 30 years we have said how many suspects
there are this somewhat at least shrinks that pull a bit let's take that info and go exploring shall we so let's say
those calls are in fact connected that the caller to the three girls in North Olmsted is the same man that called Amy
so now this means you need to find a link between these four girls Amy included all of whom we should mention
were 10 or 11 years old at this time the link could be a person place a club or an organization it could be anything
but it needs to connect all four girls and this unknown suspect the article states that in early 2005 an
agent working the Amy case contacted the girls from North Olmsted the agent wanted to know if the girls
went to the Lake Erie Nature and Science Center they had and in fact the article claims
that they each went there in the weeks leading up to Amy's abduction Amy too went to the Nature and Science
Center but the article does not specify when her last visit was or how close to her Abduction the last visit would have
been that information may not be known to anyone at this point including the police and FBI but what we do know and
can say is Amy had been to the center before and on multiple occasions keep in mind this Center is close in
proximity to both her school her home and the bay Square Shopping Plaza and based off of where the other three girls
attended School Amy would have lived closer to the center than all three of them
the three girls were asked if they remembered signing in at a check-in or a log book by the front doors of the
center this being writing their names and phone numbers in this book received a mixed response from the now
grown up girls but keep in mind this is 15 and a half years later right eventually at least two of these now
grown women contacted James Renner passing along that they had been questioned about their possible
connection to the Lake Erie Nature and Science Center back in 1989. then a man contacted Renner about
someone he was told was the suspect that the police may have been asking about a man who once had volunteered at the
Nature Center and who was a science teacher back in 1989. that man was Dean Runkle Dean was born in New London and
grew up not far from where Amy's body would be found just a little more than three months
after she was abducted this is most interesting as retired special FBI Agent Phil torsny who is
currently active on Amy's case and has been for years stated that he believed that Amy was
transported out of Bay Village after she was kidnapped as the town is too dense too close-knit to be a likely place to
commit murder he stated that the murder likely took place in Ashland County which the murderer was probably familiar
with Runkle was born in 1944. After High School he attended Bowling Green University majoring in education he got
his first teaching job teaching science at sailor Way Middle School this was in 1967.
he earned the young educator of the Year award while teaching there he was also a pretty good ragtime piano
player good enough to play at Cedar Point for a regular gig during the summers in fact one point he quit
teaching and played piano at Disneyland for two years yeah eventually he went back into teaching yes and then he did
quit again in 1987. at this time he returned to New London and moved back in with his parents
he got a job working at a pet store it is said that when the store when the store's mice population became
overwhelming Runkle donated mice to local nature centers some have said he very likely gave some to the Lake Erie
Nature Center so if the Lake Erie Nature Center and Science Center is in fact the link
between these four girls Amy included and if the calls were in fact connected Dean run Uncle would have been someone
probably linked to the center during that time in the fall of 1989 and just side note
we all know Amy was abducted in the fall of 1989. Runkle applied for and was hired at horde Junior High in Amherst
Ohio Runkle continued to work there until 2003 and after that he moved to Florida
now earlier we spoke about the young person who saw the man approach Amy that day outside of the shopping plaza now
over the years this eyewitness has been shown many photos of men and asked if this man looks like the man you saw with
Amy that day right it was reported in this article that when this witness was shown a picture of Dean Runkle the
response was there have not been many photos that have been this close I would definitely tell them meaning law
enforcement to investigate this guy this is interesting for several reasons we have one of the eyewitnesses being
shown a photo and saying hey this out of all the photos that I've seen today and out of all the photos that
I've seen over the years this guy looks the closest out of all the photos I would tell investigators to look into
this guy the weird thing about Runkle is we know that he was a teacher and there have
been many people that have gone back and tried to well not try to they did interview former students of his
just like some of the other other suspects that we've discussed today and on yesterday's show it's really a mixed
bag of opinions about this individual there are some that say you know Dean did some weird things and he was a weird
guy he was odd he was even creepy at times he said some strange things right like
to handle rats that's weird but then there were other there were other kids that had the you know very extremely
positive things to say about Dean Runkle saying that he really inspired them to continue their education and inspired
them to go into teaching themselves or really got them to take a strong interest in science and some in biology
and some of the things that Dean was doing in his classes so again a mixed bag of opinions about his nature and his
behavior right but just to be clear you could be you could have sick fetishes and still
be a good teacher or good worker well yeah you could be you could be the best guy in the world one minute and
then be a total you know a-hole the next I I don't doubt that at all but the reason why I point that out is there are
so many things out there that just straight up label him as a creep right and I think you know if we're gonna if
we're going to label him a creep I think that's hard to do on our show because I'm seeing mixed opinions by
by you know his students throughout the years right but as out of all the suspects when you see Dean Runkle's
picture and you see the sketch you go well there's your guy I mean this is it almost looks like a
drawing of his of his picture what I would label the third composite sketch yes right there there again is where I
think we have a problem with there being a composite sketch out there or the fact
that there was there was four of them that's what I'm getting at he where you would say he looks like the third one
you may not say that he looks like one two or four right so right that's that's where that
composite sketch gets a gets a little weird now also the other thing too is this individual and I look I believe her
statements if she's saying this is the closest that I've seen since then I don't doubt that statement at all I
don't doubt that she believes that to be true the other thing we have to keep in mind
along those same lines though this she was abducted Amy was abducted in October of 1989. this witness saw this
man for a very limited time at the Plaza on that afternoon and then is seeing this photo of Dean run Uncle 19 years
later right in 2009 the Cleveland Scene ran another article this one is titled new witness to Amy's abduction IDs
Runkle it says and I'll just read the first part of this article because it's not a long one for nearly 20 years Rick
Burns waited patiently for the police to return to his Auto Body Shop across the
street from the station to show him photos of the man he saw with Amy mihalovic the day of her abduction
but they never came Burns maintains that a strange man with shaggy hair parked in a sedan in his
personal space closest to the Bay Square Plaza on October 27 1989. he remembers the date because it was
also the day he brought in his newly restored truck to the shop to show off to his buddies and was miffed to find
that somebody had parked in his spot Burns says the strange man later pulled around the shop to the pumps where he
was standing in the back seat was a young girl he believes to have been Amy mihalovic the man asked Burns for
directions to i-480 and then left two days after Amy disappeared FBI agents came to Burns's shop and to look
through receipts for the previous two months they took his statement and that was that he never heard from them again
now Burns reviewed a series of photographs of suspects and non-suspects without hesitation according to this
article Burns picked out former Amherst Middle School science teacher Dean Runkle as the man he saw at his shop
that day basically this is an eyewitness statement saying within days of the abduction I gave a report to police that
I saw a man shaggy hair man asked me for directions and in the backseat of his car
I believe was Amy mihalovic I then waited for nearly 20 years for them to come back and show me pictures of
possible suspects they never came back wow all right where do we start here because this looks bad for Runkle on the
surface but when you really kind of start scratching and clawing through this statement and through this article
look I believe this article was written with the best of intentions I also believe that Rick Burns is is a good guy
and means well and means the best for the situation and probably is just simply trying to help yeah but who's the
article written by um I believe it was written by well there's there's multiple reporters
involved in this article so I don't want to I want to cite anybody specifically without having all the names but
what I'm getting at here Captain is we now have a very public statement by the Bay Village Police Department that says
that kind of contradicts the statement given by Rick Burns in this article okay so their statement is yes we did talk to
Rick Burns within days after Amy's abduction yes he gave a statement he his statement at the time says he didn't see
anybody he didn't see anything suspicious he didn't report anything suspicious the article says
he reported something suspicious and then waited nearly 20 years for the police to return to ask him questions
again Bay Village Police Department are also on record saying that Rick is a very
good guy he's done nothing but try to help this investigation but the problem is they're going to believe his
statement that he gave within days after the abduction and not the one that he came back to give them nearly 20 years
later which they say is a different story I've not seen the police reports I've not seen their notes I've not seen
the case File I do believe everything they're saying though for several reasons I do believe Rick Burns is
probably a good guy that only wants to help I also believe that he probably believes somewhat what he's saying now
saying that he saw just misremembering it it probably wasn't Amy and it probably wasn't on the day in question
right and the reason why I say that is for several reasons he says the girl that I saw in the back of the
car I believe she was Amy mihalovic well if you're saying that within two days of the abduction one if you believe that
prior to that statement if you've already made that connection in your mind prior to that statement
you should have gone to the police yourself to give that statement not waiting for them to come to you to look
for receipts receipts and then ask you questions right and then on top of that if you firmly believe that that is in
fact what you saw then you don't wait for them to come back to you you remind them hey I have information that I've
passed along what's going on with this yeah and I think with Ron Cole there's a leap to
kind of figure out how he got the numbers to make contact with these girls if they are connected uh the Nature
Center I don't think there's 100 proof of that I think the tough thing about Ronco is that he passes the
eye test of one of the the drawings and I think that's hard to for people to get
around you see those pictures side by side and you go wow that looks like the guy and I I think people have a hard
time uh moving on from that so I mean there are some other suspicious things with Runkle I mean you
said that and you're exactly right in your statement of we can't 100 connect him to that nature
center and some are saying that the Nature Center is kind of the intersection between these girls and the
Killer where where that gets a little skewed is we can't 100 put them there however it has been reported that he has
that Runkle has made some incriminating statements in regards to his involvement
or possible involvement with the Lake Erie Nature Center again we don't have 100 proof from law enforcement stating
that he was a volunteer around that time that we can put him there within the weeks or months leading up to the
abduction he does have a general knowledge being from the the roundabout area where Amy's
body is found was found and that seems to be a general consensus amongst the experts in her case that the killer the
abductor knew that area that there was something familiar or something something
that is of bigger importance to the killer rather than just driving and driving and driving and coming to a
place out in the middle of nowhere and dumping the body so there is a connection there as well
right um but again I'm I'm with you Captain it's uh loose these are loose connections some of them seem a bit of a
leap we would be remiss if we didn't bring up a rumor regarding Runkle and I State this as a rumor because I've seen
people try to prove it either way and I don't know which to be true right the other rumor is that at some point in his
teaching career they became aware the Educators became aware that they did not have Runkle's
fingerprints on file and this is something that standard practice throughout the state of Ohio right when
they learned this and he wasn't the only one there were other teachers throughout
the state that they did not have their fingerprints on file and what they did was to try to bring their records up to
date they went around to all these teachers and said hey we need you to go down here and get fingerprinted we're
just going to add it to your file no biggie and the rumor is that when approached with this request run Uncle
who was close to retirement who was close to collecting a pension retired without notice without pension
and that he just left very quickly after this request yeah that's very fishy that's true there are people that say
that that is not in fact true I can't prove it either way and that's why I took you and that's why the captain took
you through his work history we know when he was employed with the state of Ohio as a teacher and we know when he
was not employed now Amy was abducted in 1989 he didn't you know he continued to work there
until 2003. it probably wouldn't be that hard to figure out if there's a connection
between him and like Oprah's or something and if if he is receiving some kind of uh you know pension for from the
state and that would kind of clear up that rumor well and I I think you're absolutely right on that but I've seen
people with two different claims in both stating that they have evidence from the
state of Ohio to back up their claims and they're saying opposite things one is saying he retired without a pension
and retired abruptly well we just need somebody that works at opers to be a little shady and then the other thing in
fact he continued to work there and submitted to their request so I can't say for certain which one is right
you're right uh somebody that's on their lunch break at opers give the captain a
call he's available or send me an email and then just tell me tell me the information and I know you're breaking
the law and you might get fired for it but chances are you're not going to get caught those records might be public
record at some point they might be they might be okay well can we move on from run uncle in in a
sense that as much as we could from any of these suspects right I think all of them look good in
some form or fashion and they're all being presented this week as suspects that we believe that is if
anybody gives a [ __ ] that the garage is list these people would be in our top ten you know there are reasons we see to
dismiss some of these suspects but also plenty of reasons to keep them on the list as
suspicious characters one thing that I think we should include on our top 10 suspect list
would be the unknown male Theory and in actuality this Theory may have the highest probability out of any of the
suspects so one of the leading detectives on the case back in the day we already
discussed him Jim Tompkins said quote of all the suspects 20 to 25 were most interesting but we have never had the
sense of yes this is our guy authorities believe the unknown male is still out there and there are ways to catching him
there are several ways in fact first are the things Amy had with her that day Amy
had these things when she was taken after all of these years of searching none have ever been found
some are rare enough to be memorable and unique enough to be clearly identifiable
as we have said before it is not unusual for this kind of criminal to make the Arrogant error of keeping a Memento of
his crime a trophy if the unknown male kept one or more of these objects even for a short time someone might have
noticed the more distinctive of these items is a pair of shoes when her body was found Amy was dressed
almost exactly as she had been when she disappeared in October but forensic investigation has confirmed that she was
not simply seized and slain she had eaten again and after she was taken so she ate at least once the experts are
certain that her clothes had been removed then put back on her body after death all except her shoes and her
earrings the shoes were uncommon they were black leather ankle boots with vertical rows
of silver studs some have theorized maybe the killer had a problem getting them back on her feet
yeah he either tossed them out or maybe he kept them for a period of time now Stephen Etter says the earrings are
even more likely souvenir items they are particularly important just the kind of
things the offender might give to another female they were tiny blue turquoise silhouettes of horses heads
according to Amy's mother they were mounted on gold metallic studs Amy also had her school backpack which
was a fairly common blue denim design with red piping and black plastic buckles and a plain white nylon windbreaker the
last item Amy's dad gave her this black leather folder with a brass clasp on it and it had the Buick 3 Chevron logo and
the Legend Best in Class on it this is a fairly unique item as well another thing that could get this
individual apprehended is actions and behaviors of this unknown male a tip needed from someone in the public to put
law enforcement on to the right guy here are some notes from the Thomas Kelly Cleveland magazine article this is
from the experts regarding the makeup of this unknown male obviously because his
identity remains unknown these are simply theories not facts but they state that some of this information when he is
finally caught will be remarkably close to much of the description provided by FBI experts they go on to talk about the
suspect composite sketch that was released and saying remember the undistinguished drawing of the slightly
built man unremarkable in appearance they say forget it at least set it aside because it could be that the poster man
is not an accurate portrayal of the unknown male they say this is very possible because the eyewitnesses would
have had no reason to scrutinize this man there was nothing extraordinary about his actions or appearance
Ren emphasizes that people should not hesitate to contact law enforcement if they have some information but the man
doesn't look like the drawing and he goes on to say I cannot say that strongly enough even if you suspect
somebody and he doesn't look like the drawing regardless that there are four of them
out there contact law enforcement yeah they go on to state that the offender what they can say for certain right is
the offender is a white male at the time of the crime he is believed to be 25 to
35 years of age this would have put him if he was in his late 30s or to mid 30s would have put
him older than the average for first-time child aggressors they State he is not remarkable in appearance he's
within average ranges of height weight and build he may look presentable but not
accomplished or professional he is socially marginalized according to Etter not in the mainstream not a
run-of-the-mill citizen he won't fit in with his peers very well especially women and the people who know him will
describe him as odd or difficult it's likely that he was living alone with a single roommate or maybe still at
his parents house at the time of the crime it is most unlikely that he was in a successful marriage with a normal Home
and Family Life one of the most intriguing aspects of the report is that the killer was most
likely to have undergone some sort of dramatic change in his behavior personality or appearance in the weeks
preceding the crime he developed a sudden compulsion or obsessive disorder experience a personal
catastrophe or an emotional setback he may have started drinking heavily or stopped drinking suddenly
he may have gotten into hard drugs or quit a drug habit there was a drastic change in his life maybe a sudden
fascination with a cult a radical religious group dick Wren says something happened to this man in the fall of 1989
something that would have been noticeable to close friends or relatives there was a pre-event stressor something
that took him from fantasy to action this may have been reflected in a dramatic change in his physical
appearance he let his hair grow long or cut it very short his health suffered his weight
fluctuated there were changes in his appearance or lifestyle in addition one important logistical aspect should be
noted this man was not passing through authorities are confident that the unknown male has reason to know this
area there is the need for such a predator to select a hunting ground where he can move comfortably through
the tall grass another expert explains that the Ashland County location is just as important
this was not random when you are disposing of something that could ruin your entire life you are going to be
careful the unknown male knew County Road 1181. he had been there on that lonely stretch
of asphalt before he knew he could quickly Place Amy's body just over a Shallow Ridge a few
yards from the pavement and expect that it would go undiscovered for weeks or maybe even months
Ren confirms this conclusion saying yes we think he was familiar with Bay Village and familiar with the area in
Ashland the experts go another step saying we believe he had knowledge of the family personal knowledge in
considerable detail I could go on and on with this unknown male Theory I do think
that this is one that deserves to be on the list a lot of people were out there going well you didn't make it through
10. of course we didn't make it through 10. there this is such a huge case and we still have some suspects that we
would like to vet a little further to see if they should fall on our list I think the ones that we covered this week
are very good suspects they should be and are on other lists out there I think they're the most popular yeah and and
this case along with several others out there but you don't see this in a lot of
cases I would describe this case as having a tornado of suspects there there are so
many of them out there and when you try to wrap your head around it you can't because it's like
it's like on The Wizard of Oz when when Dorothy is being taken away and you can she sees uh the farm hands for a little
bit then she sees the witch for a little bit yeah and that's what this case is like it's a tornado of suspects when you
try to focus on one there's one another one that will fly by and pop in your mind and another will come up here and
there throughout uh your time on this case now there are some truly great sources for
information on Amy's case unfortunately when a case is 30 years old and 30 years
unsolved many different people have had the opportunity to take a look at it offer their opinions expert opinions and
tell the story of the abduction and the investigation we have bitten off a big chunk of that I
think in our coverage on True Crime garage now at five episodes dedicated to her case but if you need some more and
if you want to know where some of this information came some of it ripped right from the pages we used sources like the
Plain Dealer magazine this was in October 21st 1990 issue where they featured an article called
Amy by Michael Heaton we obviously talked about the Cleveland magazine October 1998 article titled who killed
Amy by Thomas Kelly there of course is James renner's book Amy my search for her killer and there is also who killed
Amy mihalovic a podcast by our good friend Bill Huffman so there are plenty of sources out there at some point if
there is some new information we will revisit Amy's case again and probably again until this thing is
solved I will say this though captain coming up on the 30-year marker of that tragic day of that terrible day
I find myself after looking into this case again within the last few weeks of a restored hope
I I wasn't going to you know when we covered this in June just before crime con I said this to a few people at crime con
and thanks to everybody who made the trip I said this to a few people at crime con
but I I refused to say it on our show and I told you this off Mike at that time I had lost
all hope that this thing would ever be solved and I I just want to throw it out there that that's how I felt at that
time and I'm going to throw it out there that within the past few weeks that hope
has been restored I'm feeling better about this case as we're moving towards that 30-year marker well I think it's
that's one of the reasons why we we cover these things to try to get the word out I think it's going to come
information is going to come from a unlikely source and and that's going to lead us to some answers
[Music] Nick do we have a recommended reading this week why of course we do Captain
this week we are recommending the blood on My Hands by Shannon O'Leary this is an autobiography but it's a story about
her family and a story about her and unfortunately it involves horrific abuse and a terrifying murder that played out
behind the scenes of her family life so check out the blood on My Hands by Shannon O'Leary you can find that title
as well as a bunch of other ones if you go to truecrimegarage.com and click on the recommended page until next week be
good be kind and don't you dare litter thank you [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Amy Mihaljevic - Suspects /// Part 2 /// 346

Part 2 of 2

www.TrueCrimeGarage.com

This week we revisit a case that we refuse to give up on. Sunday will mark 30 years to the day that 10 year old Amy Mihaljevic was abducted in plain sight. Join us for a discussion regarding some of the suspects you have heard of and some you may have not. Beer of the Week - Scissor Kick by KCBC Garage Grade - 4 and a half bottle caps out of 5

Beer Fund: https://truecrimegarage.com/home

Brief Summary

The episode discusses Amy Mihalovic's case, focusing on suspects Kenneth Stanton and Dean Runkle, and community reactions to her abduction and murder.

Key points

Community Remembers Amy Mihalovic. Amy's body was discovered, and the community mourns her loss with memorials.
The People's Suspect: Dean Runkle. Discussion about Dean Runkle, a suspect in the case, and his public perception.
Kenneth Robert Stanton's Dark Past. Stanton, a convicted pedophile, has a history of molestation and evasion.
The Connection Between the Girls. Investigators explore links between Amy and three other girls, all 10 or 11 years old.
Eyewitness Identifies Runkle. An eyewitness claims to have seen Dean Runkle with Amy on the day of her abduction.
Runkle's Teaching Career Under Scrutiny. Runkle's abrupt retirement raises questions about his past and potential connections to the case.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Amy Mihalovic is one girl this community will never forget.

Community's reaction to Amy's case

4:23WatchNov 21, 2022

Tension

70/ 100High tension

More from True Crime Garage TV

Solve the Crime

Read a real case one clue at a time, then see how your call held up against the investigators.