WEBVTT - Hell and Gone Murder Line: Amy Mihaljevic 0:00:46.480 --> 0:00:51.961 School of Humans. Helen Got Murder Line actively investigates cold 0:00:52.040 --> 0:00:55.361 case murders in an effort to raise public awareness, invite 0:00:55.401 --> 0:00:58.761 witnesses to come forward and present evidence that could potentially 0:00:58.840 --> 0:01:02.961 be further investigated by law enforcement. While we value insights 0:01:03.001 --> 0:01:06.160 from family and community members, their statements should not be 0:01:06.200 --> 0:01:09.961 considered evidence and point to the challenges of verifying facts 0:01:10.041 --> 0:01:14.041 inherent in cold cases. We remind listeners that everyone has 0:01:14.080 --> 0:01:17.160 presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. 0:01:17.961 --> 0:01:20.840 Nothing in the podcast is intended to state or imply 0:01:21.041 --> 0:01:23.601 that anyone who has not been convicted of a crime 0:01:24.121 --> 0:01:27.121 is guilty of any wrongdoing. Thanks for listening. 0:01:29.761 --> 0:01:33.721 On Friday, October twenty seventh, nineteen eighty nine, ten year 0:01:33.800 --> 0:01:37.200 old Amy Mahalovich rode her bike to her fifth grade 0:01:37.200 --> 0:01:40.521 class at Bay Middle School with her friend Kristen. This 0:01:40.721 --> 0:01:44.321 was part of her usual routine. It was at Chili 0:01:44.441 --> 0:01:47.800 Fall Day in Bay Village, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland. 0:01:48.520 --> 0:01:52.320 Kristin said that on this day, Amy was excitedly talking 0:01:52.361 --> 0:01:55.001 about the yearbook picture retakes that were happening at school 0:01:55.001 --> 0:01:58.561 that morning. The students had had their original pictures taken 0:01:58.561 --> 0:02:01.401 a few weeks earlier. Amy had put her hair into 0:02:01.441 --> 0:02:04.520 a side ponytail, which was all the rage at the time, 0:02:05.001 --> 0:02:07.721 but apparently she wasn't happy with how it turned out. 0:02:08.201 --> 0:02:09.481 It just didn't feel like her. 0:02:10.960 --> 0:02:13.841 Police later checked out this information and found that a 0:02:13.881 --> 0:02:17.721 photographer from Ohio's School Pictures had come to the school 0:02:17.881 --> 0:02:22.041 on October fourth. Amy's fifth grade class led out at 0:02:22.041 --> 0:02:26.241 two four pm that afternoon. Kristin later told the FBI 0:02:26.721 --> 0:02:29.001 that after school, when she went to get her bike 0:02:29.041 --> 0:02:32.321 to ride home, she noticed that Amy's bike was still 0:02:32.361 --> 0:02:35.841 in the bike rack. Amy had a brother named Jason, 0:02:35.921 --> 0:02:38.561 who was two years older in the seventh grade. His 0:02:38.761 --> 0:02:42.121 class led out an hour later than Amy's, so Amy 0:02:42.201 --> 0:02:45.921 normally got home first. Both kids were expected to call 0:02:45.960 --> 0:02:49.361 their mom, Margaret at work, every day when they arrived home, 0:02:50.001 --> 0:02:53.641 but on that Friday, Jason called Margaret at her job 0:02:53.881 --> 0:02:57.201 at The Trading Times, the local newspaper where she worked, 0:02:57.201 --> 0:02:59.721 to say he had made it home safely, but he 0:02:59.761 --> 0:03:04.761 said Amy still hadn't come home. Margaret wasn't immediately worried 0:03:05.081 --> 0:03:07.521 because Amy had told her that there was a choir 0:03:07.601 --> 0:03:11.281 practice or some kind of a tryout that evening. At 0:03:11.321 --> 0:03:14.121 three forty pm, Margaret got a call at work, it 0:03:14.161 --> 0:03:17.281 was Amy. Amy told her mom that she was fine 0:03:17.401 --> 0:03:21.561 and the try out went well. Margaret later told investigators 0:03:21.721 --> 0:03:23.841 she thought Amy was home when she made that call. 0:03:25.361 --> 0:03:28.601 After work, Margaret drove home, which was about ten minutes away. 0:03:29.161 --> 0:03:33.481 Amy still wasn't home. Concerned, Margaret went to the school. 0:03:34.041 --> 0:03:36.761 That's when she saw Amy's bike still in the rack 0:03:36.881 --> 0:03:39.921 and realized she hadn't ridden her bike home. She went 0:03:39.961 --> 0:03:42.201 to the police station to report Amy missing. 0:03:43.121 --> 0:03:44.441 Amy's fought Mark. 0:03:44.281 --> 0:03:46.721 Who was away on a work trip, would point out 0:03:46.801 --> 0:03:50.441 later that to him, the mention of choir practice on 0:03:50.481 --> 0:03:53.841 a Friday afternoon or evening was kind of a red flag, 0:03:54.161 --> 0:03:56.841 since choir practice, to his knowledge, was not ever held 0:03:56.881 --> 0:04:01.161 on that night. In their investigation, police discovered that after 0:04:01.161 --> 0:04:04.121 school let out, Amy walked about a quarter mile to 0:04:04.161 --> 0:04:07.921 a nearby mall, the Bay Square Shopping Center, with two girlfriends. 0:04:08.561 --> 0:04:11.161 That's when they found out the choir practice story was 0:04:11.201 --> 0:04:14.881 covered for something else. They found out that an unknown 0:04:14.921 --> 0:04:18.121 caller had contacted Amy at home and said they would 0:04:18.121 --> 0:04:19.721 meet her in the mall to buy a gift for 0:04:19.801 --> 0:04:23.121 her mother because her mother had been promoted. But this 0:04:23.361 --> 0:04:27.841 wasn't true. There was no promotion and no gift. Amy's 0:04:27.880 --> 0:04:32.481 abductor kidnapped her from that mall. Witnesses saw Amy talking 0:04:32.481 --> 0:04:35.801 to a man in the parking lot, and then she disappeared, 0:04:36.681 --> 0:04:39.001 and there was no sign of her for several months 0:04:39.521 --> 0:04:43.681 until on February eighth, nineteen ninety, nearly four months after 0:04:43.841 --> 0:04:48.121 the incident, a female jogger was running near a cornfield 0:04:48.241 --> 0:04:51.921 in Ruggles Township off County Road eleven eighty one, in 0:04:51.961 --> 0:04:55.481 a rural area of Ashland County. That's when she found 0:04:55.721 --> 0:04:57.761 Amy's body. 0:04:58.481 --> 0:04:59.561 I'm Catherine Townsend. 0:05:00.041 --> 0:05:02.801 Over the past seven years of making my true crime podcast, 0:05:02.841 --> 0:05:05.881 Helen Gone, I've learned that there's no such thing as 0:05:05.881 --> 0:05:09.760 a small town where murder never happens. I've received hundreds 0:05:09.761 --> 0:05:12.841 of messages from people all around the country asking for 0:05:12.881 --> 0:05:16.200 help with an unsolved murder that's affected them, their families, 0:05:16.601 --> 0:05:20.041 and their communities. If you have a case she'd like 0:05:20.121 --> 0:05:22.200 me and my team to look into, you can reach 0:05:22.241 --> 0:05:24.561 out to us at our Helen Gone Murder Line at 0:05:24.601 --> 0:05:27.881 six seven eight seven four four six one four five. 0:05:28.441 --> 0:05:31.961 That's six seven a seven four four six one four five, 0:05:32.761 --> 0:05:35.641 or you can send us a message on Instagram at 0:05:35.881 --> 0:06:25.841 Helen Gonepod. This is Helen Gone Murder line. Amy Mulholovic 0:06:26.081 --> 0:06:29.841 was born on December eleventh, nineteen seventy eight, in Little Rock, Arkansas. 0:06:30.681 --> 0:06:33.321 She grew up with her mom, Margaret, her dad Mark, 0:06:33.401 --> 0:06:35.761 and her brother Jason, who was two years older than her. 0:06:36.761 --> 0:06:40.801 The year after Amy was born, Mark was transferred to Jackson, Mississippi. 0:06:41.241 --> 0:06:44.561 He had a long career with Bwick. In nineteen eighty four, 0:06:44.601 --> 0:06:47.681 he was transferred again. That's when the family moved and 0:06:47.761 --> 0:06:52.041 settled near Cleveland, Ohio. That's where Amy grew up at 0:06:52.081 --> 0:06:56.161 six twenty eight Lynford Drive in Bay Village, Ohio. Amy 0:06:56.241 --> 0:06:58.561 grew up riding her bike to school with her friends 0:06:58.921 --> 0:07:00.921 and doing all the normal things that kids did in 0:07:01.001 --> 0:07:05.041 the late eighties. She loved the movie Dirty Dancy. According 0:07:05.041 --> 0:07:08.201 to her friends, she knew every line. She was also 0:07:08.281 --> 0:07:12.441 proud of her collection of My Little Pony figurines. Amy 0:07:12.961 --> 0:07:16.681 was petite four foot ten inches and ninety pounds, and 0:07:16.761 --> 0:07:20.241 she was constantly on the move. She participated in a 0:07:20.241 --> 0:07:24.601 lot of activities, including swimming, brownies, and especially horseback riding. 0:07:25.281 --> 0:07:28.001 She loved to take lessons and train at the nearby 0:07:28.081 --> 0:07:32.001 stable Holly Hill Farms. The horse she loved the most 0:07:32.361 --> 0:07:37.041 was named Razzle. Amy's father, Mark, came home from his 0:07:37.121 --> 0:07:40.201 work trip. He had been away for several days. By 0:07:40.241 --> 0:07:43.121 the time he got home, he said, Margaret was hysterical. 0:07:43.761 --> 0:07:47.201 She'd already called all of Amy's friends, and he immediately 0:07:47.241 --> 0:07:51.721 started searching the local area. Margaret had already called the 0:07:51.761 --> 0:07:55.561 police and reported Amy missing. By the next morning, the 0:07:55.681 --> 0:07:59.281 FBI was there and they were cooperating with local police. 0:07:59.921 --> 0:08:06.041 The FBI interrogated everyone, including Amy's family, following standard protocol. 0:08:07.121 --> 0:08:09.961 We got a chance to speak to Amy's older brother, Jason. 0:08:10.601 --> 0:08:14.641 Jason is now forty nine years old. He lives in Ohio. 0:08:15.241 --> 0:08:18.801 He shared his experience in the aftermath of his sister's disappearance. 0:08:20.001 --> 0:08:21.801 Well, I mean I thought it was Let's see, I 0:08:21.881 --> 0:08:24.841 was in seventh grade and she was in fifth, sorry 0:08:24.921 --> 0:08:27.521 getting old, so she would usually be home when I 0:08:27.641 --> 0:08:30.241 was on my way home, so she got home earlier 0:08:30.241 --> 0:08:32.560 than I did, and for whatever reason, on that Frienday, 0:08:32.680 --> 0:08:35.121 she wasn't And I called my mom asked what was 0:08:35.160 --> 0:08:36.800 going on, and she said, oh, yeah, she had some 0:08:37.001 --> 0:08:39.320 sort of trial for a choir something that should be back. 0:08:39.920 --> 0:08:42.401 And it got later and later, and leader I called 0:08:42.441 --> 0:08:44.841 my mom and she started, who You're re get worried, 0:08:44.881 --> 0:08:48.001 and then the whole cascade of things of realizing that no, 0:08:48.160 --> 0:08:51.801 she really wasn't gone, and I don't know what else is? 0:08:51.841 --> 0:08:57.240 Where else is say? There were countless police and Atbie 0:08:57.481 --> 0:08:59.680 in and out of the house in all hours of 0:09:00.241 --> 0:09:03.600 the night and day, and especially the first couple of 0:09:03.641 --> 0:09:07.641 weeks when everything was focused on finding her and rescuing her. 0:09:09.001 --> 0:09:12.721 The day after Amy disappeared on Saturday morning, one of 0:09:12.761 --> 0:09:16.641 Amy's neighbors, another girl who was in her class, told 0:09:16.681 --> 0:09:19.920 police that at lunch the day before, Amy had told 0:09:19.961 --> 0:09:21.961 her that she got a phone call from a man 0:09:22.041 --> 0:09:25.761 she didn't know. The male caller called Amy at home. 0:09:26.241 --> 0:09:28.961 He claimed he worked with Amy's mother. He said he 0:09:29.041 --> 0:09:32.721 wanted help buying a present to celebrate her promotion, and 0:09:32.961 --> 0:09:36.241 he told Amy she could pick out a gift as well, 0:09:36.321 --> 0:09:40.321 but Amy told her friend the caller had emphasized this 0:09:40.401 --> 0:09:44.761 had to be their little secret. Investigators believe that at 0:09:44.801 --> 0:09:47.481 the point when Amy made the call to her mom 0:09:47.481 --> 0:09:51.521 at three forty pm, Amy had already been abducted. They 0:09:51.601 --> 0:09:54.481 believed her abductor was standing there with her, and that 0:09:54.601 --> 0:09:57.601 this call bought him crucial time to get further away. 0:09:58.761 --> 0:10:02.481 Amy sounded fine on the call, so it's unclear whether 0:10:02.601 --> 0:10:04.801 or not Amy knew she was in potential danger at 0:10:04.841 --> 0:10:08.481 that time. She may have been frightened, or she may 0:10:08.521 --> 0:10:10.441 have just thought this was all part of a secret 0:10:10.441 --> 0:10:15.001 gift plan. Mark has said in multiple interviews that Amy 0:10:15.081 --> 0:10:18.041 knew not to talk to strangers. But what if her 0:10:18.161 --> 0:10:21.961 kidnapper knew their family or convinced Amy that he did. 0:10:23.201 --> 0:10:27.241 Investigators learned something else. They found out several other young 0:10:27.321 --> 0:10:30.921 girls had received phone calls similar to the ones Amy got. 0:10:31.081 --> 0:10:34.641 They wondered if Amy had been targeted specifically, or if 0:10:34.681 --> 0:10:38.441 the caller tried several girls before Amy was the one 0:10:38.481 --> 0:10:42.841 who took the bait. Police talked to Amy's friends. Two 0:10:42.881 --> 0:10:45.841 of her friends said they left class together. They all 0:10:45.881 --> 0:10:48.561 walked together to the mall, which only took a few minutes. 0:10:49.121 --> 0:10:51.401 They said that after they got to the mall, they 0:10:51.401 --> 0:10:56.280 split up. Police talked to two witnesses who were eleven 0:10:56.361 --> 0:10:58.681 years old. They said they were out in the parking 0:10:58.721 --> 0:11:02.441 lot at around three pm. They saw Amy standing by 0:11:02.481 --> 0:11:05.121 the mall like she was waiting for somebody. There was 0:11:05.161 --> 0:11:07.601 a bask In Robin's ice cream shop out there that 0:11:07.681 --> 0:11:09.681 a lot of the kids hung out at, and Apparently 0:11:09.721 --> 0:11:11.921 Amy was near the ice cream store, although they didn't 0:11:11.921 --> 0:11:15.521 see her go inside. The witnesses saw a man put 0:11:15.521 --> 0:11:18.401 his hand on Amy's back and walk her out to 0:11:18.441 --> 0:11:21.361 the parking lot, but Amy didn't seem to be in 0:11:21.401 --> 0:11:24.481 any distress, so the two kids said they weren't really 0:11:24.481 --> 0:11:31.001 paying attention. They didn't see where Amy went next. They 0:11:31.041 --> 0:11:33.721 described the stranger with Amy that day as a clean 0:11:33.761 --> 0:11:37.681 cut white man, approximately in his thirties, around five foot 0:11:37.721 --> 0:11:40.521 seven to five foot eleven inches tall, with a bald 0:11:40.521 --> 0:11:45.481 spot and dark, possibly gray hair. Detectives put together a 0:11:45.521 --> 0:11:49.241 composite sketch of the man the witnesses saw. Now apparently 0:11:49.280 --> 0:11:53.201 there were some discrepancies between their descriptions. One of them 0:11:53.241 --> 0:11:55.641 said the guy Amy was talking to had glasses, the 0:11:55.681 --> 0:11:59.001 other said he didn't. And they interviewed many people, but 0:11:59.081 --> 0:12:01.801 they never found the man in the sketch. It also 0:12:01.961 --> 0:12:05.281 probably didn't help that the composite sketch literally looked like 0:12:05.601 --> 0:12:07.920 your average white man on the street. It kind of 0:12:07.961 --> 0:12:12.721 looked like it could be anyone. Amy's eleventh birthday came 0:12:12.881 --> 0:12:20.401 and went with her family nowhere closer to finding answers. 0:12:26.961 --> 0:12:30.081 Once Amy's body was found in February, of nineteen ninety, 0:12:30.280 --> 0:12:33.361 around twenty feet from the road. She was identified very 0:12:33.441 --> 0:12:38.481 quickly from dental records and fingerprints. According to the autopsy report, 0:12:38.961 --> 0:12:41.601 Amy had blunt forced trauma to the back of her head, 0:12:41.921 --> 0:12:43.121 but the actual. 0:12:42.761 --> 0:12:45.041 Cause of death with stab wounds to the neck. 0:12:45.801 --> 0:12:49.081 The autopsy found Amy's body had been in that field 0:12:49.321 --> 0:12:53.521 for a considerable period of time, probably the entire three months. 0:12:54.081 --> 0:12:57.040 Investigators believed that Amy was dumped there either on the 0:12:57.121 --> 0:13:01.160 day she went missing or shortly afterwards. Their best guess 0:13:01.321 --> 0:13:03.841 is from a few hours to a few days after 0:13:03.881 --> 0:13:08.761 her abduction. Of course, Amy's body was very decomposed. She 0:13:08.921 --> 0:13:12.241 was dressed, but her sweatpants were inside out. This made 0:13:12.280 --> 0:13:15.800 investigators belief it was likely that she was sexually assaulted, 0:13:16.321 --> 0:13:19.521 but unfortunately, her body had been out in the elements 0:13:19.521 --> 0:13:22.361 for way too long for some kinds of sexual assault 0:13:22.441 --> 0:13:26.280 testing to be effective, so they didn't know for sure. 0:13:27.321 --> 0:13:30.241 There were signs that Amy may have been kept alive 0:13:30.361 --> 0:13:33.441 for at least a few hours after her abduction, although 0:13:33.801 --> 0:13:38.081 it's not conclusive proof. The coroner's report found substances in 0:13:38.121 --> 0:13:41.241 her stomach. They were able to conclude that Amy's last 0:13:41.280 --> 0:13:44.401 meal was something soy based, possibly in art official chicken 0:13:44.441 --> 0:13:48.321 product or Chinese food. I wonder could she have gotten 0:13:48.321 --> 0:13:50.881 the food from the mall food court or could her 0:13:50.961 --> 0:13:53.801 killer have gotten it. Could they have kept her somewhere 0:13:53.841 --> 0:13:57.361 else alive for a period of time, or maybe bought 0:13:57.401 --> 0:14:00.040 takeout food and brought it to her. There was no 0:14:00.081 --> 0:14:04.321 way to know for sure. Several hundred yards away from 0:14:04.321 --> 0:14:08.441 Amy's body, investigators found a curtain and a blanket that 0:14:08.481 --> 0:14:10.001 were sent in for forensic testing. 0:14:11.001 --> 0:14:12.641 The forensic testing team. 0:14:12.441 --> 0:14:16.041 Found yellow gold fibers on Amy's body. There were also 0:14:16.121 --> 0:14:19.201 some things that were missing. Her black studded boots that 0:14:19.241 --> 0:14:22.561 she wore for horse riding were missing, and investigators never 0:14:22.641 --> 0:14:25.081 found the other items that Amy had been carrying that day, 0:14:25.481 --> 0:14:29.561 including her denim backpack, her black binder with Bwick Best 0:14:29.641 --> 0:14:33.321 in Class written on it, and some very unique turquoise 0:14:33.361 --> 0:14:37.080 earrings that she was wearing. They were shaped like little horseheads. 0:14:38.401 --> 0:14:41.761 Police considered the possibility that Amy's killer had taken these 0:14:41.801 --> 0:14:45.081 items and either ditched them or kept them as a souvenir. 0:14:46.401 --> 0:14:50.001 Police were trying to figure out the caller's origins. They 0:14:50.001 --> 0:14:54.001 were also investigating every possible connection to Amy or Margaret, 0:14:54.041 --> 0:14:58.001 since Margaret was mentioned in the call trading time said 0:14:58.041 --> 0:15:00.761 Margaret had not gotten a promotion. The only thing that 0:15:00.761 --> 0:15:03.001 had happened recently with her work schedule was that she 0:15:03.001 --> 0:15:06.481 had gone from part time to full time. Police also 0:15:06.601 --> 0:15:10.881 explored connections with Holly Hill Farms, where Amy rode horses. 0:15:10.481 --> 0:15:11.601 And spent a lot of time. 0:15:12.641 --> 0:15:14.801 One of the young women who got a call similar 0:15:14.881 --> 0:15:18.281 to the one Amy got months before she disappeared, reported 0:15:18.281 --> 0:15:21.641 the incident to police. The FBI came to her house, 0:15:21.681 --> 0:15:24.601 and they found out this girl, like Amy, was a 0:15:24.681 --> 0:15:29.561 regular at holly Hill Farms. There was a documentary called 0:15:29.681 --> 0:15:33.321 The Lake Erie Murders on Investigation Discovery, and there were 0:15:33.361 --> 0:15:37.561 three episodes in that series about Amy's case. They interviewed 0:15:37.561 --> 0:15:40.201 someone else, a woman who was ten years old at 0:15:40.201 --> 0:15:44.521 the time Amy disappeared. She told ID few weeks before 0:15:44.601 --> 0:15:47.681 Amy disappeared, she got a similar phone call to the 0:15:47.681 --> 0:15:51.561 one Amy got. She said, someone identifying themselves as her 0:15:51.561 --> 0:15:56.801 mom's boss called her and mentioned them buying a secret gift. Apparently, 0:15:56.881 --> 0:15:59.281 she asked her mother about it, and her mother kind 0:15:59.281 --> 0:16:02.321 of shut the whole thing down, so she never attempted 0:16:02.321 --> 0:16:05.401 to meet up with the caller, and that caller was 0:16:05.401 --> 0:16:10.481 apparently never found When detectives were investigating the girls who 0:16:10.481 --> 0:16:14.481 got calls mainly in the summer before Amy disappeared, they 0:16:14.601 --> 0:16:17.321 found that there was one place they all had in common. 0:16:17.761 --> 0:16:21.201 They had all apparently been to the Lake Erie Nature 0:16:21.241 --> 0:16:25.841 and Science Center in Bay Village. Police said that the 0:16:25.921 --> 0:16:29.201 location had a paper log book where visitors could write 0:16:29.241 --> 0:16:32.121 down their names and addresses. So one theory they had 0:16:32.241 --> 0:16:35.001 was maybe someone involved with the center, a volunteer or 0:16:35.001 --> 0:16:38.481 an employee, or possibly just a visitor, got the girl's 0:16:38.521 --> 0:16:43.241 phone numbers from inside that logbook. Police looked for the logbook, 0:16:43.481 --> 0:16:47.361 but it was gone and investigators were never able to 0:16:47.401 --> 0:16:53.481 find that logbook. Over the years, police interviewed Amy's friends 0:16:53.481 --> 0:16:54.201 several times. 0:16:54.281 --> 0:16:56.081 They ran down a lot of leads. 0:16:56.561 --> 0:17:00.561 Of course, they asked about Amy's parents' relationships, about her parents' 0:17:00.561 --> 0:17:03.841 friends they're male friends, Amy's father and her friend's father's 0:17:04.201 --> 0:17:08.880 They found nothing conclusive. There were a lot of names 0:17:08.880 --> 0:17:11.920 mentioned in connection with Amy's case over the years, a 0:17:11.961 --> 0:17:15.881 lot of false starts and red herrings. The jogger who 0:17:15.921 --> 0:17:19.360 found Amy's body mentioned a weird guy who lived on 0:17:19.400 --> 0:17:22.321 her street, but there was no evidence that he was 0:17:22.360 --> 0:17:25.440 ever connected to Amy's case, and in my opinion that 0:17:25.521 --> 0:17:26.401 was part of the problem. 0:17:26.880 --> 0:17:28.880 It seemed like everyone. 0:17:28.521 --> 0:17:31.840 Knew a weird guy who lived on their street, which 0:17:32.080 --> 0:17:36.840 was a challenge for the police. Another early suspect mentioned 0:17:36.840 --> 0:17:41.041 by the FBI profiler Robert Wrestler, was Billy Strunak, a 0:17:41.080 --> 0:17:43.481 man who had stalked a waitress in nineteen eighty three. 0:17:44.161 --> 0:17:47.241 Police became interested in him as a potential suspect in 0:17:47.281 --> 0:17:50.921 Amy's case in nineteen eighty nine. Apparently the reason why 0:17:50.961 --> 0:17:54.641 police were suspicious was Billy's criminal past and his behavior. 0:17:55.241 --> 0:17:58.561 They say that Billy volunteered, that he inserted himself into 0:17:58.601 --> 0:18:01.481 the investigation, that he was trying to cozy up to 0:18:01.561 --> 0:18:05.840 Margaret after Amy's disappearance, and even offered to clean her house. 0:18:08.041 --> 0:18:11.640 Thirteen days after Amy's body was found, Billy took his 0:18:11.681 --> 0:18:17.001 own life by drinking dry gas and soda. Police said 0:18:17.080 --> 0:18:19.721 after his death they searched his residence. They said they 0:18:19.721 --> 0:18:23.241 found zero evidence that would link him to Amy. They said, 0:18:23.401 --> 0:18:26.241 on the contrary, his suicide note referred to problems at 0:18:26.241 --> 0:18:29.481 work and depression. They said there was nothing there referring 0:18:29.481 --> 0:18:32.920 to Amy at all, so that lead turned into a 0:18:32.961 --> 0:18:37.801 dead end. Police also continued to explore connections with Holly 0:18:37.881 --> 0:18:41.521 Hill Farms, especially once they found out one of the 0:18:41.561 --> 0:18:43.961 other girls who got one of these weird phone calls 0:18:44.041 --> 0:18:47.281 was also a regular at Hollyhill Farms. One man the 0:18:47.321 --> 0:18:50.121 FBI talked to was a caretaker there, a man named 0:18:50.121 --> 0:18:54.080 Harold Bound. He lived on the property. His parents owned 0:18:54.080 --> 0:18:56.601 the stables, but apparently they were out of town when 0:18:56.601 --> 0:18:57.360 Amy went missing. 0:18:58.241 --> 0:19:01.561 Harold was cooperative. He allowed investigators to search his apartment 0:19:01.721 --> 0:19:03.161 and the whole farm. 0:19:03.441 --> 0:19:06.361 Harold was described as a loaner and a Vietnam veteran. 0:19:06.921 --> 0:19:09.600 He had a habit of striking up conversations with some 0:19:09.641 --> 0:19:12.441 of the girls who rode horses at the stable. Some 0:19:12.521 --> 0:19:15.241 of the parents told police they thought Harold was a 0:19:15.281 --> 0:19:20.121 little bit weird and creepy. Harold requested polygraph tests. He 0:19:20.321 --> 0:19:24.801 actually asked police to test him with sodium pentathal aka 0:19:24.881 --> 0:19:27.921 truth serum, which, to be honest, is the first time 0:19:28.041 --> 0:19:31.681 I've ever heard of anyone being interrogated like that voluntarily. 0:19:32.561 --> 0:19:35.041 We don't know what the results were, but in the 0:19:35.161 --> 0:19:38.881 end police did not pursue Harold as a suspect. He 0:19:39.001 --> 0:19:43.160 was never arrested or charged with anything in connection with 0:19:43.201 --> 0:19:48.041 Amy's Disas parents, police were also contacted by two girls 0:19:48.080 --> 0:19:50.161 in North Olmsted, which was a. 0:19:50.080 --> 0:19:51.961 Few miles from Bay Village. 0:19:52.041 --> 0:19:54.640 They found out girls were getting calls there as well, 0:19:55.241 --> 0:19:58.321 and some of the girls who got called had unlisted 0:19:58.321 --> 0:20:03.080 phone numbers, So naturally, investigators wondered was this the same 0:20:03.161 --> 0:20:06.961 caller who called Amy and how did the caller get 0:20:07.001 --> 0:20:11.840 all of their numbers. Over the years, police considered several suspects. 0:20:12.361 --> 0:20:15.001 One was a man named Kenneth Ray Stanton. He was 0:20:15.041 --> 0:20:18.561 a traveling salesman and serial child molester. His mo was 0:20:18.601 --> 0:20:21.961 to find victims in upper middle class, largely white neighborhoods. 0:20:22.401 --> 0:20:24.161 He would choose holmes where. 0:20:23.961 --> 0:20:26.481 The victim, a young girl between the ages of seven 0:20:26.481 --> 0:20:30.840 and twelve, was home alone. Kenneth appeared clean cut, normally 0:20:30.881 --> 0:20:33.600 he wore suits, and he was capable of being charming, 0:20:34.041 --> 0:20:36.521 at least charming enough to convince his victims to let 0:20:36.561 --> 0:20:39.641 them into the home. Sometimes he posed as a police 0:20:39.641 --> 0:20:44.441 officer or food safety inspector. Kenneth did looked like the 0:20:44.481 --> 0:20:49.281 composite sketch. Investigators say they believe Kenneth was in Ohio 0:20:49.401 --> 0:20:52.600 at the time when Amy disappeared. The FBI were hunting 0:20:52.601 --> 0:20:55.640 for him. In December of nineteen eighty nine. His abandoned 0:20:55.641 --> 0:20:59.880 car was found in Perrysburg, Ohio. Kenneth's case was featured 0:20:59.881 --> 0:21:02.881 on America's Most Wanted, and minutes after the episode aired, 0:21:03.401 --> 0:21:05.921 multiple people called in to say that Kenneth was living 0:21:05.921 --> 0:21:09.160 in Moraine, Ohio with his wife. That's about three hours 0:21:09.161 --> 0:21:13.681 from Bay Village, where Amy lived. After the episode aired, 0:21:13.840 --> 0:21:17.841 Kenneth fled the area. Police eventually tracked him down at 0:21:17.840 --> 0:21:20.681 a motel in rock Hill, South Carolina, where he had 0:21:20.721 --> 0:21:24.601 molested another young girl. Kenneth pleaded guilty to the molestation 0:21:24.721 --> 0:21:29.521 charges and was sentenced to sixty years in prison. Investigators 0:21:29.561 --> 0:21:32.481 have confirmed they did consider Kenneth mainly due to the 0:21:32.521 --> 0:21:36.081 possible proximity to Amy, but later stated they did not 0:21:36.121 --> 0:21:39.561 believe he was their suspect. Kenneth died in prison on 0:21:39.681 --> 0:21:48.681 August twentieth, twenty eleven years past and police hit many 0:21:48.761 --> 0:21:53.080 dead ends. Amy's family still had no answers and it 0:21:53.121 --> 0:21:56.840 was weighing on them. Jason shared his thoughts on how 0:21:56.921 --> 0:21:59.641 hard he believed the police worked on the case. 0:22:00.481 --> 0:22:03.041 They never let Amy's case rest a single day. They've 0:22:03.080 --> 0:22:06.321 continuously worked on it the pride of DNA and even 0:22:06.401 --> 0:22:08.801 take tundles of hair way back in the eighties when 0:22:08.881 --> 0:22:12.281 nobody had heard of anything like that. It's always very 0:22:12.321 --> 0:22:16.080 humbling to me to be have my sister remembered so 0:22:16.241 --> 0:22:19.321 long after it's actually happened. It's been, at least for me, 0:22:19.361 --> 0:22:21.920 a very touching and humbling experience to go, hey, you know, 0:22:22.401 --> 0:22:26.441 the community at large, including most of America, really loved 0:22:26.481 --> 0:22:29.641 my sister. And we're not I mean, it sounds terrible. 0:22:29.681 --> 0:22:32.960 We're not in any special We're just we're just a 0:22:32.961 --> 0:22:37.281 couple of kids from Suburbia, a mobile family that went 0:22:37.401 --> 0:22:38.840 through the same thing everyone else does. 0:22:45.521 --> 0:22:50.281 In twenty thirteen, a retired investigator named Phil Torsney announced 0:22:50.281 --> 0:22:52.201 that he would be coming out of retirement to work 0:22:52.241 --> 0:22:55.801 on Amy's case. Phil assisted the FBI in catching the 0:22:55.801 --> 0:22:59.001 mobster Whitey Bulger. Whitey was on the run for years 0:22:59.321 --> 0:23:01.681 and spent a lot of time on the FBI's ten 0:23:01.721 --> 0:23:05.721 most wanted list. Phil told reporters he didn't believe that 0:23:05.761 --> 0:23:09.600 Amy's killer had come from her immediate area. Instead, he 0:23:09.761 --> 0:23:12.400 believed the killer was more likely to have ties to 0:23:12.481 --> 0:23:15.801 Ashland County, to the area where Amy's body was found. 0:23:16.601 --> 0:23:18.761 Phil described Amy's hometown as. 0:23:18.721 --> 0:23:21.841 Quote two dents too close knit to be a likely 0:23:21.881 --> 0:23:22.801 place to commit. 0:23:22.681 --> 0:23:24.400 Murder end quote. 0:23:24.521 --> 0:23:28.400 In March of twenty fourteen, the FBI announced a twenty 0:23:28.401 --> 0:23:31.401 five thousand dollars reward for any information that would help 0:23:31.521 --> 0:23:36.401 lead to Amy's killer or killers. In twenty sixteen, police 0:23:36.481 --> 0:23:39.440 announced they had done testing on the blanket and curtain 0:23:39.561 --> 0:23:43.041 that were found near Amy's body. They found dog hares 0:23:44.121 --> 0:23:48.401 they said were similar to Amy's dog, So detectives believe 0:23:48.561 --> 0:23:51.961 it's very possible that the hairs on that curtain did 0:23:52.080 --> 0:23:55.321 belong to Amy's dog and that somehow they were transferred 0:23:55.321 --> 0:23:58.920 from her clothing to that curtain, meaning that the curtain 0:23:58.961 --> 0:24:02.241 that was found near the body was what Amy's killer 0:24:02.241 --> 0:24:04.481 had used to wrap her in and dump her body. 0:24:05.481 --> 0:24:09.801 The curtain itself is unusual. Police continue to release photos 0:24:09.840 --> 0:24:12.440 of that curtain in hopes that someone might recognize it. 0:24:13.041 --> 0:24:16.321 They believed that it could be a crucial clue. The 0:24:16.401 --> 0:24:20.081 curtain actually looks like something someone sewed at home. It's 0:24:20.121 --> 0:24:23.761 a dark green beige color. The tabs on the top 0:24:23.881 --> 0:24:27.721 are not equal distance apart. Police want to find out 0:24:27.881 --> 0:24:30.640 where the curtain was before it was found near Amy. 0:24:31.441 --> 0:24:34.001 If it was in the killer's house, They hope that 0:24:34.041 --> 0:24:36.841 it may have DNA evidence that can be tested. At 0:24:36.840 --> 0:24:41.401 some point, James told us he thought the police had 0:24:41.441 --> 0:24:44.441 done a very thorough and good job. He pointed out 0:24:44.481 --> 0:24:48.200 they followed a ton of leads and most importantly, had 0:24:48.281 --> 0:24:51.561 carefully collected all kinds of DNA from the crime scene, 0:24:51.881 --> 0:24:53.041 years before. 0:24:52.840 --> 0:24:55.001 Some kinds of DNA testing were available. 0:24:55.840 --> 0:24:59.321 The vials of hair and clothing were carefully sealed in 0:24:59.401 --> 0:25:02.761 the crime lab. And since we hear about so many 0:25:02.801 --> 0:25:05.840 cases on this podcast where evidence is lost or destroyed, 0:25:06.321 --> 0:25:09.681 it's actually so refreshing to hear about a police department 0:25:10.161 --> 0:25:14.001