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

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[Music] crime [Music] [Music] the sounds of rural Ashland County warn of a passing train a tragedy averted the
SES along County Road 1181 warn of a tragedy committed white ribbons have been strung in memory of Amy mahalic
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 cuz 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 Shuster 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 mahalic 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 Meer spent much of his life as a grain farmer and a frequent Hunter he says he
now has frequent thoughts about Amy I told told my wife the other day I said you know you see this on TV all the time
where they go out in in the country and find a body I said but you never figure it's going to happen right in your back
door Myers claims children are being watched more closely as well as property while the community awaits the arrest of
Amy mahalic killer in Ashlin County Jack Marshall reporting for the 10:00 [Music]
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 rle you know how in wrestling they got the people's champ I
would I would call Dean R the people's suspect because anytime we've spoke about this case hailing from Parts
Unknown that's the guy yeah that's the guy that we get the most emails about or the most blog post about well let's talk
about the the first guy cuz 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 morine Ohio resident he pled guilty to 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 Rel released now I know a lot of people are going to you know maybe laugh at those weird statements
being backto 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 emmo 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 Stant was scared away a neighbor boy heard the
screams and this draws his attention to what's going on right and he sees Stanton flee 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 drivers license photo they have some photo of him the girl
identifies from that photo Stanton as the as salent 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 9 10 years old right 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 10most 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 morine Ohio well Captain guess who else was
watching Unsolved Mysteries that night who well the Pervert On The Run Kenneth sio Stanton saw his face on TV so
Stanton took off again and ston 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 mm that no matter what situation they're in no matter how scared they are or if they
are 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 5 days after Stanton flees from Ohio after seeing his
face on TV he sees an opportunity a 9-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 dmer 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 page is 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 the reason why I like him for several reasons okay one he doesn't
look unlike the composite drawing right two he is already known to have been using rses that were working he's
already trained himself to the level that his rses 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 the I got to get the victim to come out of the house I got to
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 uh of the plaza where he picked up Amy at uh it looks like there's a little parking lot in the
middle yeah you 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 rses 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 could
present yourself as some type of authority figure it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility we at some
point what we do know and can surmise 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 the ruse that
he was using at the time is not terribly unsimilar to what was used against Amy mhm but I think the problem with Stanton
as good as a suspect as I think that he makes and as good as a well as 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 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 a permanent address on paper right right and that's that 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 3 months between the abduction and when she was discovered correct this person would have uh the knowhow uh 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 he 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 morine Ohio yeah in October
of 1990 so we can't really put him in the immediate area on October 27th 1989 but
we can put him in the state of Ohio for the the time of the abduction roughly and the whole time that she was
missing so he's 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 and 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 [Music] yes this show is sponsored by better help do you look forward to the holidays
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every one of you filthy as hell um okay so captain now let's get into Dean RL our Dean RL 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 mahalic murder and this of course by James rener 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 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 worst 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 hestad Ohio North Olstead 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 longdistance 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 mhm let's take that info
and go exploring show so let's say those calls are in fact connected that the caller to the three girls in northstead
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
northstead the agent wanted to know if the girls went to the lake Eerie Nature and Science Center they had and in fact
the article claims they each went there in the weeks leading up to Amy's abduction Amy too went to the Nature and
Science Center but the Artic 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 B Bas 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 MH this being
writing their names and phone numbers in this book this question received a mixed
response from the now grownup 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 rener passing along that they had been
questioned about their possible connection to the lake Eerie Nature and Science Center back in
1989 then a man contacted rener 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
RL Dean was born in New London and grew up not far from where Amy's body would be found just a little more than 3
months after she was abducted this is most interesting as retired special FBI Agent Phil torney
who is currently active on Amy's case and has been for years stated that he believe 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 Ashlin County which the murderer was
probably familiar with rle 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 RL donated mice to local
nature centers some have said he very likely gave some to the lake eie Nature Center so if the lake Eerie 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 RL 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 RL applied for and was hired at horde Jor high in
Amherst Ohio RL continued to work there until 2003 and after that he moved to Florida now early 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
rle 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 I Witnesses 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 rle is we know that he
was a teacher and there have been many people that have gone back and tried to well not tried to they did interview
former students of his MH 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 RL 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 going to 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 out of all the suspects when you see Dean rl'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's 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 s and 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 RL 19 years later
right in 2009 the Cleveland Scene ran another article this one is titled new witness to Amy's abduction ID's rle 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 mahalic the day of her abduction but they never came Burns maintains that
strange man with shaggy hair parked in a sedan in his personal space closest to the Bay Square Plaza on October 27th
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
mahalic 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-suspect without hesitation according to this article Burns picked out former
Amherst Middle School science teacher Dean rle 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-haired man asked me for directions and in the back seat of his car I believe was Amy mahalic right
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 rle 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 don't 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 dep 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 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 was Amy mahalic 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 Rono 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 RKO 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 well 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 rle 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 him there however it has been reported that he has that RL has made made some incriminating
statements in regards to his involvement or possible involvement with the lake eie 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 rle 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 rle fingerprints
on file and this is something that's 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 rle 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 oers or something
and if if he is receiving some kind of uh you know pension for from the state 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 and 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 oers to be a
little shady and then the other saying 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 oers give the captain a
call mhm he's available well 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 rle in in a
sense that as much as we could from any of these suspects bun rle mhm right I think all of them look good in some form
or fashion and they're all being present presented this week as suspects that we
believe that if anybody gives a [ __ ] that the garage is list these people would be in our top 10 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 Tomkins
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
momento 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 there 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 Steven 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 onto 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 to mid-30s would have put him older than the average for firsttime
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 soal marginalized according to Eder 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
experienced 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 or radical religious group dick Ren 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 this conclusion saying yes we think he was familiar with
Bay Village and familiar with the area in ashin 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 they should be and are on other list out there yeah 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 and then she sees 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 uh we used sources like the plane 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 the of course is James renner's book Amy my search for
her killer and there is also who killed Amy mahalic 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 that terrible
day right I find myself after looking into this case again within the last few weeks of a restored hope I I wasn't
going 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 mik at that time I had lost all hope that this thing would ever
be solved and I I I just want to throw it out there that that's how I felt at that time and I want 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 and 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 [Music] answers 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 oi 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 ter terrifying murder that played out behind the scenes of her family life
so check out the blood on My Hands by Shannon o you can find that title as well as a bunch of other ones if you go
to True Crim garage.com and click on the recommended page and until next week be
good be kind and don't you dare [Music] litter [Applause] [Music] Shopify is the global Commerce platform
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Amy Mihaljevic - Suspects /// Part 2 /// 346

Part 2 of 2

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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

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Brief Summary

The episode discusses the unsolved murder of Amy Mahalic, focusing on suspects Kenneth Stanton and Dean R. L.

Key points

The Tragic Discovery of Amy Mahalic. Amy's body was found near County Road 1181, shocking the community.
Community Response to Tragedy. Residents show support for Amy's memory with flowers and ribbons.
Kenneth Robert Stanton: A Dangerous Suspect. Stanton, a convicted pedophile, was linked to multiple molestation cases.
Eyewitness Account. An eyewitness claims to have seen Amy with a man on the day she was abducted.
Dean RL's Background. Dean RL had a mixed reputation as a teacher, inspiring some while being considered creepy by others.
The Unknown Male Theory. This theory may have the highest probability of identifying the suspect.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Amy's body was discovered right alongside 1181 last week.

A poignant moment revealing the tragedy.

4:39WatchNov 16, 2023

Tension

60/ 100Some tension

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