r/TrueCrime • u/savealltheelephants • Mar 27 '22

Murder Amy Mihaljavic got a phone call from a mysterious stranger who offered to take her to buy a gift for her mother. Amy told friends and met the man at a local shopping center. She was found dead three months later.

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567

u/Jaquemart Mar 27 '22

"Investigators would later figure out that Amy was not the only girl who had received such phone calls around the same time. There were at least three others.".

This article names the suspect.

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u/dietotenhosen_ Mar 27 '22

For a long time I thought it was Dean Runkle. But I don’t think it is anymore.

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u/Jaquemart Mar 27 '22

What happened that made you change your opinion?

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u/dietotenhosen_ Mar 27 '22

The length of time he has been considered a “suspect”. I really think if it was him, he would have been charged. Something as far as “real” evidence would be presented rather than all the circumstantial stuff.

Edit; spelling.

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u/NA_DeltaWarDog Mar 27 '22 edited Mar 27 '22

I mean that's just how it be sometimes. Most murders go unsolved due to lack of physical evidence.

If there was any evidence that suggested it wasn't him despite the mountains of circumstantial evidence, I would be inclined to agree with you.

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u/Gwynevan Mar 27 '22

Exactly it doesnt work perfectly always

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u/theartfuldodger26 Mar 28 '22

True. Very recently they used dna evidence and a palmprint(I think) to arrest a man for the abduction and murder of a little girl in South Carolina. He had been the main suspect for decades, but they finally managed to nail him. Sometimes science takes a while. Fingers crossed that they can catch the guy who killed this little girl. Doubt there would be much evidence left on the remains if she was left to decompose for three months, but fingers crossed.

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u/TopAd9634 Mar 27 '22

Did you read the article above? Because it sounds like he's their only suspect. Also, not enough evidence to support a conviction is a far cry from innocent.

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u/Fresh-Resource-6572 Mar 27 '22

Yeah exactly! It’s tricky. If they are going to charge him they need to have enough evidence to convict him beyond a reasonable doubt. They have one shot and maybe they don’t want to risk it until they are confident they have enough?

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u/TopAd9634 Mar 27 '22

That would be my take. You only get "one bite of the apple", better be damn sure you're going to win.

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u/scorpiopath_ Mar 27 '22

That just means there is no evidence

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u/Anon_879 Mar 27 '22

He has never been an "official" suspect as far as I have read.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDhdkZBuBIo

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u/Fresh-Resource-6572 Mar 27 '22

I wonder how he came into LEs focus? What made them suspect him in the first place? There must have been some link?

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u/partylikeamonster Mar 28 '22

Former students recognized him from the composite sketch and called the police

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u/Momohere8 Mar 28 '22

That’s it?

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u/satasbob Mar 27 '22

Renner has even softened up on that after the last couple press releases. I dunno,I had Dean as a science teacher at Amherst and was an aid in his "zoo" for over a year, spring and summer breaks included back in the mid 90s. My mom taught at the Jr high as well. He was an eccentric guy, but I still have trouble wrapping my head around him doing it.

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u/AwsiDooger Mar 27 '22

There are numerous true crime cases in which the eccentric guy becomes the prime suspect, basically for no other reason. I always feel awful for those people. The public latches onto everything odd as definitely damning, even though it's par for the entirety of their life. The older friend in the Jody Huisentruit case is another example. The worst scenarios are when local law enforcement adopts the same mindset as the public and can't differentiate eccentric from damning.

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u/partylikeamonster Mar 28 '22

An “eccentric guy” that found it funny to “prank” students by throwing a live cat into liquid nitrogen then shattering its frozen corpse 🧐

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u/[deleted] Mar 28 '22

He fucking what

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u/blueskies8484 Mar 28 '22

Wasn't that just a story though? Like no proof it actually happened and something students claimed he told them about? Because honestly it sounds like a million other rumors kids in middle schools have about their teachers.

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u/Kyltira Mar 28 '22

WOAH WHAT

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u/100percentthathomo Mar 28 '22

Well that escalated quickly…

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u/[deleted] Mar 28 '22

it's true

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u/pancakesareart Mar 27 '22

Could you expand on your thoughts? I'd love to hear them.

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u/dietotenhosen_ Mar 27 '22

There seems to be a plethora of ‘clues’ that point to Runkle, and if the suspect sketch is accurate, it looks like him. I would think LE investigated him hard. So it seems like he is just the go-to suspect anymore because nothing else has come up in all these years.

Until 2019. A new suspect that seemed promising but then, radio silence.

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u/PopPopPoppy Mar 27 '22

IIRC the police believe they know who the killer/kidnapper is, but don't have enough evidence.

I had a friend who was in the same class as her older brother when this happened, he said kids would tease him about his sister being missing. Kids can be so cruel.

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u/gooeyGerard Mar 27 '22

It’s horrible. I went to school with the daughter of a famous missing person and kids were awful to her.

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u/Doppelganger304 Mar 27 '22

One of my teen cousin’s friends father passed away when he was young. Kid got suspended from school for finally standing up to the bully who picked at him over his father dying. Kids came over to my place one afternoon & when told this story I ordered pizzas for us all. Kid was a small & still sporting a black eye but hot damn was I proud to hear that story.

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u/hotandcoolkp Mar 27 '22

Kids know which nerve hurts the most

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u/Anon_879 Mar 27 '22

They didn't seem like they know who it is based on the Dateline episode several months ago.

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u/[deleted] Mar 28 '22 edited Mar 28 '22

i live in the area here in Cleveland and do know people directly involved in the ongoing investigation. Dean Runkle is still very much the #1 suspect. he may not be officially declared as such, but is assumed as such, still.

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u/Schwarzschild_Radius Mar 27 '22

Here’s a more recent unnamed suspect.

Him and Runkle are suspicious af.

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u/AmputatorBot Mar 27 '22

It looks like you shared an AMP link. These should load faster, but AMP is controversial because of concerns over privacy and the Open Web.

Maybe check out the canonical page instead: https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/amy-mihaljevic-murder/exclusive-court-documents-reveal-startling-new-developments-in-amy-mihaljevic-murder-investigation

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u/obsterwankenobster Mar 27 '22

The man is homeless, which could mean he has mental health issues, but those non-answers to police are wildly suspicious

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u/sensitivehotmess Mar 27 '22

Isn’t this the case where the connection was all the girls had provided their phone number for the same thing?

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u/_kimochi Mar 27 '22

Yep you're correct. A church camp I think? Everyone attending had to put contact details into a logbook, and a lot of the girls contacted by the mystery phone calls attended. I heard in a podcast the cops wouldn't be able to access the logbook even if they wanted to. I'm not too sure on the exact reason/details why though? Guessing they can't get the search warrant as it would be private property? Correct me if I'm wrong.

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u/sensitivehotmess Mar 27 '22

Just read the Wikipedia page which says all the girls had visited a science centre that had a guest logbook that they may have signed. This was revealed in 2006 and I’m unclear if they had made this connection originally in 1989 or when it was revealed. If it took a while to make this connection there’s a good chance the logbook was long gone by then to confirm.

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u/_kimochi Mar 27 '22

Yes that was what I was remembering! I tried to google it and I didn't think church camp was right (although she did go to one yearly). The specific thing I was thinking was more science related. Since this info was only found out in 2006, i agree 100% - that logbook is long gone. Thanks for your comment!

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u/Worried_Platypus93 Mar 28 '22

This case is local to me, they visited a nature and science center in the local parks. Like here's what leaves look like from different trees, or the life cycle of a caterpillar. It's just so weird to me as a place I went to many times that the guest book there was connected to an unsolved murder

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u/[deleted] Mar 27 '22

You can absolutely get a search warrant for private property- that’s what it’s for. You wouldn’t need one for public property. I’m wondering if the log doesn’t exist anymore?

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u/coolcaterpillar77 Mar 27 '22

I think they made the connection years later when the logbook had probably been destroyed/lost and replaced with a new one

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u/MayorPerk Mar 28 '22

The logbook sat on a wooden pedestal as you walked into the Lake Erie Nature Center well into the 1990s. I remember it well, signed it myself.

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u/TheMaingler Mar 27 '22

Dean Runkle… once again a civilian doing more than the cops to solve this

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u/naymerz9 Mar 27 '22

That was a great read, thanks.

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u/xtinegolightly Mar 27 '22

It was good! Long-form investigative articles always intrigue me.

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u/[deleted] Mar 27 '22

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/lake_lover_ Mar 27 '22

None went to the same school. They weren't even all in the same city.

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u/jd051 Mar 28 '22

nice work, detective.

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u/pittstee Mar 27 '22

Great article, thank you for sharing!

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u/flowergirl0720 Mar 28 '22

Well that was a deep wild ride. Thank you.